The dream of Shakhtar Donetsk to win their second international trophy since winning the UEFA Cup in 2009 is over—they were defeated 3-1 by Sevilla (Sevilla vs Shakhtar ended 5-3 on aggregate) on Thursday night.
Shakhtar travelled to Sevilla knowing full well that they had to either win the match or achieve a tie higher than 2-2 in order to reach the final in Basel later this month.
The Ukrainians, coached by Mircea Lucescu, therefore, had their work cut out for them before the match in Sevilla, and things were quickly made more complicated when Sevilla’s French striker Kévin Gameiro scored for Sevilla in the ninth minute.
Shakhtar, however, responded well to the goal, and had several chances to equalize in the first half. Yet, the equalizer didn’t come until the 44th minute when Shakhtar’s Croatian-Brazilian striker Eduardo tapped the ball past Sevilla keeper, David Soria, to make it 1-1.
At this point, the Ukrainians might have felt that they had a good chance to get a result that could see them through to the final in Basel. But, just minutes after the second half kick-off, Gameiro scored once again to make it 2-1 for Sevilla.
Now Shakhtar had to score twice to secure the win in regular time, but Lucescu’s men seemed somewhat deflated by the task. Furthermore, Sevilla’s experience in the tournament—the Spanish club has won the last two Europa League titles—became evident, as they managed to thwart Shakhtar’s attempts to gain an equalizer.
Then, in the 59th minute, Sevilla’s midfielder, Mariano, gained the ball in midfield, took one look at the goal, and drove a magnificent strike at goal which left Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov, without a chance, as the ball went into the goal to make it 3-1.
Mariano’s goal didn’t change Shakhtar’s task, in that the Ukrainians still had to score two more goals to get through on aggregate. In reality, however, the score caused Lucescu’s squad to lose confidence and they didn’t have a single opportunity for a goal after Mariano’s strike. Sevilla, meanwhile, demonstrated their experience, as they easily circulated the ball amidst their own ranks to see out the match.
After the match, Lucescu told Tribuna, “As in Lviv we didn’t try to control the match in the first half. We rushed towards Sevilla rather than control the ball, and this allowed Sevilla to implement counter attacks. But I am pleased with the guys, and we also helped Ukrainian football with our results. Furthermore, I believe that we lost this match in Lviv, and not here.”
Lucescu also spoke about the possible future of Shakhtar Donetsk, as the club has to now focus on rebuilding the team. “Now we have to create a new team, and we have two young players, which can form the backbone—[Maksym] Malyshev and Viktor Kovalenko.” There were also questions regarding Lucescu’s future at the club, but the Romanian coach pointed toward the club’s next games against Karpaty Lviv in the league, and Oleksandriya in the Ukrainian Cup.
Yet, on Thursday night, Tribuna already asked readers whether it was time for the 70-year-old Romanian to retire and make room for a new coach. Indeed, there have been frequent rumours about current Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk coach Myron Markevych, who has already announced that he is going to leave Dnipro at the end of the season.
For now, however, Shakthar can look back with pride to this year’s European campaign, as the club came close to being the second Ukrainian representative in a European Cup final in as many years. Furthermore, many Ukrainians will now stay tuned on the final in Basel, as many will cheer for Sevilla’s Yevhen Konoplyanka, who now has an opportunity to win the cup after losing the final last year with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
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