The third round qualification match, Shakhtar Donetsk vs Young Boys Bern, will mark the first European match for new Shakhtar head coach Paulo Fonseca who, it is interesting to note, coached his last international match with Sporting Braga against Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarterfinal of the 2015-16 Europa League season.
At Shakhtar, Fonseca has replaced the long-term manager, Mircea Lucescu, who left Shakhtar this summer after 12 very successful years to coach Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Fonseca made his debut last Saturday in the Ukrainian Super Cup final, a match that Shakhtar lost against their long-standing rival Dynamo Kyiv after a penalty shootout. Then on Friday July 22, Shakhtar opened the season against Zirka Kirovohrad with a convincing 4-1 victory.
The match gave some indication of how Fonseca envisions Shakhtar’s play in the future—the Portuguese coach had his team lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which saw Eduardo as the lone striker up front, with an offensive trio consisting of Taison, Bernard, and Marlos behind him.
Noticeably, Bernard played, as a playmaker instead of the Ukrainian wunderkind Viktor Kovalenko. Bernard, who arrived at Shakhtar in the summer of 2013 for €25 million, has yet to completely fulfil his potential in Ukraine. The 23-year-old Brazilian playmaker has shown glimpses of his potential, but last season especially, was handicapped by injuries.
For now, Fonseca seems to prefer Bernard, who scored the opening goal on Friday against Zirka, ahead of Kovalenko on the number 10 position, and the young Ukrainian, who can also play as a number eight, had to come off the bench against Zirka. In defensive midfield, Fonseca seemed to prefer the Brazilian, Fred (who has now returned from his doping ban) to Kovalenko.
Fonseca told the press on Friday that he doesn’t expect major changes to his line-up against Bern. “We do not expect any major changes. It is clear that some performers may be replaced. But there won’t be any major changes at this point,” Fonseca told the media on Friday.
It also appears that Fonseca is keen to develop the existing squad, to rely heavily on finally establishing Bernard as a top player, and to return Fred to the same level at which he played prior to his doping ban.
Indeed, apart from the Ukrainian striker Yevhen Seleznyov, Shakhtar have failed to make a major signing in the transfer window so far, and instead seem to rely on integrating several players who spent last season on loan at clubs in Ukraine or elsewhere.
The transfer window remains open until the end of August, but Fonseca might very well wait and see how his squad develops in the early stages of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and the Ukrainian Premier League before bringing in new players. Hence, the match against Young Boys could determine how much, if any, investment will be made by Shakhtar this summer.
Meanwhile, Young Boys, who are travelling to Ukraine, as Switzerland’s vice-champion, have never played Shakhtar Donetsk before. Furthermore, YB (pronounced IB) have never reached the group stage of the Champions League before.
Like many Swiss clubs, YB will bring a highly organized and entertaining brand of football to the Lviv Arena next Tuesday, and they will most certainly provide challenge for Ukraine’s Cup winners. Shakhtar will have to look out for Guillaume Hoarau, who last season scored 17 goals for YB in the Swiss Super League.
Hoarau will be YB Bern’s biggest threat, but Shakhtar’s experience in international competitions—last season Shakhtar reached the semi-final of the Europa League—will mean that the Ukrainians will most likely emerge victorious from the qualifiers.
COMMENTS
YB have in fact played several friendly matches against Shaktar in the past, as the Ukrainians held their summer training camp near Berne for years. As far as I remember, they only won one game.
Yes that is correct, but we only referred to official matches when we wrote about past matches.