Zorya vs Fenerbahçe will be a major cornerstone in the history of Zorya Luhansk, who have never reached the group stage of a UEFA competition. The game, which will take place in Odessa due to the on-going conflict in the Donbass (read Zorya Luhansk’s Europa League preview here), will also be the first time that Zorya Luhansk will face Fenerbahçe.
Indeed, the only time Fenerbahçe ever travelled to Ukraine was to play against either Shakhtar Donetsk or Dynamo Kyiv and, so far, they have failed to win a match against a Ukrainian team.
The Süper Lig giants will be the favourites on Thursday, as Zorya’s European experience is limited at best. Indeed, the last time Zorya made significant progress in a European competition was in the 1973 European Cup—the predecessor to today’s Champions League—as Zorya Voroshilovgrad.
Back in 1973, Zorya reached the round of 16 of the competition where they were eliminated by the Czechoslovakian side, Spartak Trnava (1-0 on aggregate). It has taken 41 years for Zorya to get another shot at a European competition—the club qualified for both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 Europa League season, but were eliminated on both occasions in the playoff stage.
Last season, Zorya finished fourth and, because Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk were banned by UEFA from taking part in this season’s Europa League, Zorya was given a direct entry into the group stage of the Europa League.
Drawn into a group with Manchester United, Fenerbahçe, and Feyenoord Rotterdam—all teams that would not be out of place in the Champions League—Zorya is living the European dream.
Unfortunately for them, this European dream is coming at a time when the club is forced to play its matches away from home, as the conflict in the Donbass makes games in Luhansk simply too dangerous.
But, despite their exile in Odessa, Zorya should not be underestimated, as coach Yuri Vernydub has put together a young and technically gifted side that demonstrated last season that they can go toe to toe with the big boys in Ukrainian football.
Fenerbahçe, managed by the experienced Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, will have to watch out for the fast wingers, Ivan Petryak and Oleksandr Karavaev, who are both on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk. Petryak, in particular, is one of the brightest talents in Ukrainian football, and many expected that he would be playing at Shakhtar Donetsk this season.
The Ukrainian giants had already secured his service last winter, but loaned him back to Zorya. Before this season, new Shakhtar coach, Paulo Fonseca, must have believed that Zorya playing in the Europa League group stage would give Petryak much needed international experience, and the left-winger, who can also play as a striker, will be one of the most interesting kids to watch in Group A.
Possible Line-ups
Zorya Luhansk:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Shevchenko – Sukhotsky, Sivakov, Checher, Kamenyuka – Grechyshkin, Gordienko – Petryak, Ljubenović, Karavaev – Paulinho
Manager: Yuri Vernydub
Fenerbahçe:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Demirel – Kaldirim, Neustädter, Skrtel, van der Wiel – Tufan, Souza – Sen, Potuk, Lens – Sow
Manager: Dick Advocaat
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