Ukraine's Shakhtar gets lucrative lift into Champions League from title races across Europe

GENEVA (AP) — If any European soccer club deserved some luck to get a lucrative place in the Champions League, it was surely Shakhtar Donetsk.

Recent results in the Champions League, but also in the Greek and Scottish leagues at the weekend, favored Shakhtar in the often complex qualifying path for soccer’s most coveted club competition.

Now the new champion of Ukraine will skip the jeopardy of three Champions League qualifying rounds in July and August to go directly to the elite 36-team main phase starting in September.

That should earn at least 35 million euros ($41 million) in UEFA prize money for a club deprived of revenue during a Russian war on Ukraine now in a fifth year. Shakhtar also has since 2014 been exiled from Donetsk by the first wave of Russian-backed conflict.

“I think we deserve to be there in the Champions League,” Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin told The Associated Press on Tuesday in a telephone interview. “We are sending a message that our club continues to represent Ukrainian football with dignity.”

Shakhtar’s success is both “a statement from our clubs” and “moments of pride” for Ukrainian people, Palkin said.

So it's a big thank you from Ukraine to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, and also to AEK Athens, Heart of Midlothian and Celtic.

How Shakhtar got to the Champions League

The short version: Shakhtar had to win the Ukraine Premier League; neither Olympiakos nor Rangers could win their domestic titles; the Champions League winner had to be already qualified for next season’s edition.

Three pieces fell into place Sunday.

In Greece, Olympiakos drew its game while leader AEK Athens won to clinch the title.

In Scotland, Rangers’ title hopes ended by losing at Celtic, which is now in a duel with Hearts.

Shakhtar’s 4-0 win at Poltava sealed its 16th league title. But that no longer gets the direct Champions League entry typically earned before the war when Ukrainian soccer was stronger and richer.

For next season, Ukraine is ranked No. 23 among UEFA member countries for its club teams' performances. That earns fewer European competition entries and at a lower level.

There was a back-door entry. When the Champions League is won by a team already qualified for next season — like PSG or Arsenal on May 30 — the entry kept for the title holder is reallocated to the national champion in qualifying rounds with the highest UEFA club ranking.

That was Shakhtar — No. 45 with 56.25 ranking points, boosted by reaching the Conference League semifinals — while No. 36 Olympiakos and No. 38 Rangers failed to win their national leagues.

It's been a nervous wait for the club.

“It’s almost one month we were on the pulse trying to understand what we tracked in the Greek league and the Scottish league,” Palkin said.

Brazil back in force

Shakhtar's past success, winning the UEFA Cup in 2009 and reaching the Champions League quarterfinals in 2011, has been with a core of Brazilian talent: Willian, Luiz Adriano, Fernandinho and Fred.

Some of the next generation left in 2022 when FIFA eased binding rules on player contracts. Now Shakhtar has 12 Brazilians in its squad, with only Marlon and Pedrinho aged over 23.

“We are not selling them comfort, they understand that,” Palkin said of a team that plays domestic home games in Lviv and UEFA competition games in Krakow in neutral and neighboring Poland.

It is, Palkin insists, like being with a Brazilian family in Ukraine: “They will be in their environment, with their language and culture.”

Coach Arda Turan

Arda Turan, the 39-year-old former Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona midfielder, came one year ago to revive a Shakhtar team that finished a surprising third in the league.

“He is a coach with our DNA. We understood what kind of football he played,” said Palkin, praising Turan as a good motivator of a young squad.

Air raid alerts at games

Ukrainian games were played in empty stadiums when the league re-started in August 2022. Today spectators are still limited for security reasons by the ability to protect them in shelters from Russian missile attacks.

“For us it is normal life," Palkin said.

Shkahtar drew crowds of about 2,500 in Lviv to start the season and about 4,200 saw Shakhtar beat defending champion Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 in November.

Champions League home for nomad club

The club owned by Rinat Akhmetov has not yet decided where to play four Champions League “home” games between September and January. Previous ones have been played in Germany.

“Our strategy is to increase the geography of our games,” Palkin said. "Ten million people left Ukraine and our fans are everywhere."

Shakhtar still hopes to return to Donbas Arena, a state-of-the-art stadium when hosting games at the 2012 European Championship, but seemingly neglected for 12 years during Russian occupation.

“All the information we receive is from newspapers," Palkin acknowledged, expressing a desire to return one day.

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