A crushing away defeat in the second leg against Feyenoord Rotterdam (1:7) summed up the performance of Shakhtar Donetsk in the current European Cup campaign. However, there is hardly anyone who will throw a stone at the miners' garden. Indeed, contrary to doubts, forecasts and expectations, the Orange-and-Blacks managed not only to leave the Champions League group, but also to reach the 1/8 of the Europa League.
On the other hand, thanks largely to the points scored by Igor Jovičević's wards, Ukraine was able to keep five teams in continental tournaments for the season that starts next year. At the same time, the national champion will have to overcome only one qualifying round, and he is guaranteed a place in the Europa League group even in case of failure.
Photo — Oksana VasilyevaShakhtar: Rotterdam station is the final
Did the Pitmen have a chance to beat Feyenoord? Most experts and observers after the first fight in Warsaw (1:1) expressed great doubts about this. And it's not even about the result and the factor of native walls for the Dutch. The point is the readiness and quality of the game, which was demonstrated by the leader of the championship of the Netherlands. Shakhtar looked, to put it mildly, unconvincing against his background, and could have conceded much more.
For various reasons, the Donetsk team then missed a number of leading defense players. This fact, according to TV commentator Viktor Vatsko, obviously became decisive.
"Taylor will enter from the right, showing to the first one at the training camp that he doesn’t win all the ribbing. Zliva - Topalov, who has been a winger all his life. They started to try out yoga more than once in zakhisti. At the center of the Viyshov Rakitsky. Arriving at the team's after a two-month pause, the security of your marriage. From the main quartet of zahisniks - only Matvienko, that one grave with temperature, " - the journalist noted in the author's program Vacko on air (1927.kiev.ua, 03/15/23).
So it turned out that Shakhtar looked absolutely opposite to itself in the matches of the Ukrainian Premier League: only seven positional attacks against Feyenoord's 50, only four shots and only one on target. And at the same time, a unique, historic goal by Rakytskyy, scored by some part of the body.
At the same time, Vacko adds: "On the other hand, I don’t know why Jovichevich wasn’t so shy. I don’t know how it was possible to play in such a situation in a different way, insuring that the result was needed. 1:1 for such a grie - tse, without a hitch, good luck. To be honest, I really want to have mercy, but I don’t care about visiting Shakhtar’s chances. Hiba scho will be an evening of a naming fortune.
However, Igor Jovicevich, as always, was positive.
“Tomorrow we’ll do better, but I think the team is mentally ready until the next match. After the serpents near Warsaw, they smashed the songs of corrections. The first gravity was great, we did not show our best football. Prote, I'm guessing, we have a reserve of potential. We have a good team, which repeatedly showed goodness in matches, de not being a favorite. We beat the time from the first to the last whilini. We came to play, - said the Pitmen's mentor at the pre-match press conference (shakhtar.com, 03/15/23).
And Shakhtar's fitness coach Javier Lobo assured that the team would be ready for the game and functionally: “It was important for us to understand whether the players would have time to recover. From here they made a start, how much you need to work on the field and in the gym during training, what exercises to do with the ball, and which without it. Hopefully, after 90 minutes of the match in Rotterdam, the score will be in our favor, but if necessary, we are ready to fight and 120 minutes" (www.tribuna.com, 03/16/23).
Extra time was not needed, hopes for luck and a penalty shoot-out did not come true. Despite the fact that Bondar, Konoplya and Mikhailichenko returned to the field, the defense of the Donetsk team began to crack from the very first minutes. And not only defense.
"The lords, with the crazy supporters of the tribunes, rushed forward and literally winteryali of ours, Sergey Rypyuk states. — On to whom the aphids were passing the defenders and Trubina looked at his free kick, m'as if seemingly, unrefined and valid. Girls played us in the debut. The protest line was unsatisfactory. Two goals after two shots - price knockdown. And then we’ll do it quickly hit and knockout" (Sport.ua, 03/16/23).
“At the gates of Donetsk residents, everything that flew there was flooded, — adds Igor Tsvik. — Chi Can you serve the truth for Shakhtar? Exactly no, for the sake of a zakhist I do not see any criticism. The defenders simply left Trubina to tear apart the superman, but he did not win. And we were told that the team at Jovicevich is young and promising, but still strong. These lads are far from being able to take a hit, to finish the fret on the floor, if everything falls down. I at the singing moment z’it seemed that the stench had waved their hand at the group " (sportanalytics.com, 03/17/23).
“It’s just an unfortunate flutter, such is the case with football, - For his part, the well-known midfielder Eduard Tsikhmeystruk noted in the past. — On the right, not in personalities, we all wanted to fight, like Bondar and Hemp had mercy. On the right in the command line. Our lads couldn't stand up to the pressure of the Dutch, they just didn't let go. How to press the football players of Feyenoord, it’s just gibberish!” (sportarena.com, 03/16/23).
Igor Jovichevich agreed that bad days happen to every team. And as an example, he cited the recent high-profile defeats of Manchester United from Arsenal in the English championship and Leipzig from Manchester City in the Champions League (with the same score of 0:7).
“For one day, what a musish to pass like a coach. I want to sing in front of the Ukrainian football players, who succumbed to us. I look forward to Feyenoord, which won the shortest match, lower. Tse garny lesson. Musimo sprout a lot of visnovkіv, I take on my own responsibility. And in the meantime, we went through a good road, starting from the first match with Leipzig, if they didn’t put one euro on us. So the lads need to chime in. Now our priority is first place and championship” (shakhtar.com, 03/16/23).
To Jovicevich's credit, he did not refer to the accompanying reasons for the defeat. Although he did not fail to clarify that the life of the team in the conditions of war cannot but affect the training process and the recovery of players, logistics, when, due to the closed sky, one has to spend two dozen hours on the road, say, to Krivoy Rog or Rotterdam: "I would focus more on good football, and once again I want to see Feyenoord more closely. І mіstsevіy public, yak warmly cheered us up and showed us respect.
The defeat in Rotterdam did not shake Ukraine's position in the UEFA coefficients table: we retained a place that allows five teams to enter European competitions. Actually, Shakhtar is 25th in the club rating. This guarantees him seeding in the Champions League qualification (in case of winning the national championship), the third pot in the draw of the group stage itself and the first in the Europa League.
In addition, the European Cup campaign brought the Donetsk club 43,626,000 euros in prize money.
Buyalsky: not guilty, but ... guilty
On Sunday, March 19, at the Arena Lviv in the capital of Galicia, as part of the 18th round of the Ukrainian Championship, Shakhtar met with the local Rukh. The victory (2:0) allowed the Pitmen to keep the sole leadership in the tournament.
A day earlier, Dnipro-1 in Rivne, thanks to Pikhalenka's goal, beat Veres (1:0) and thus is still three points behind the Donetsk team. And Zorya returned to the third position, in a parallel match at the Dynamo Stadium named after Lobanovsky, defeating Mircea Lucescu's wards with the same score.
The matches of the "Tour of Memory" were held in honor of the representatives of the fan football movement who died in the war. In Kyiv, in particular, a symbolic blow to the ball was delivered by the little son of Alexei Rubtsov, a warrior with the call sign Soldier, well known in Dynamo fan circles, who gave his life for the sake of victory. Before the match, its participants paid tribute to the memory of the hero, and goalkeeper Georgy Bushchan conducted a tour of the arena for the children of Alexei Rubtsov Miroslav and Polina, as well as his wife Irina.
Unfortunately, Dynamo did not manage to please their fans with a victory on the football field.
“Kyan did not know a leader. Gravtsya, what a snake to replace Buyalsky and with one dot, destroy the share of resistance to your own selfishness, - journalist Serhiy Sytnik noted in the report on the match. — Richly brightened up the young Tsarenka, while Anton fought the battle against the more textured supermen. I'm Znovu without scoring the Vanat field. The striker was blamed for the moment, but he still needed work to implement it" (Footboom1.com, 03/18/23).
"Zorya's plan is obvious: try to put pressure on someone else's half of Lucescu's team, - for his part, Sytnyk's colleague Taras Kotiv believes. — So don't come outlo - sit at a low block and fall for quick counterattacks. Dynamo didn't get any ideas from the attack. The Luhansk club did not hesitate to take control over m'cell. In the midst of a trivial hour, the teams were suffocating in a positional attack " (Football24.ua, 18.03.23).
When the game opened up, Dynamo missed several dangerous attacks from the opponent. In one of them, Guerrero scored the winning goal.
“Bula was already an important gra. Pomogti could be a team. Everything went to the first goal. The supernik was on the counterattacks, my opponent was scored. Alya began to pardon in defense, after which Zorya scored. Opponent is well organized, competent team”, - Mircea Lucescu commented on the outcome of the fight (fcdynamo.com, 03/18/23).
At the same time, Mister added that he was building, in fact, a new team. Only recently, Kendzera, Zabarny, Mikolenko, Tsygankov, Besedin, Verbich, Vitinho, de Pena left the club due to various circumstances. Both leading goalkeepers are injured - Buschan and Boyko, only recovering after a severe injury to Shaparenko. And then Buyalsky was also disqualified.
“In order to wake up, an hour is needed, Lucescu continued. — Today you have been bacheling the future contours of the team. Tsarenka - 19 years, Dyachuk good zigrav, Voloshin. Mozhlivo turn around Brazhko. Sincerely, we may be building a new team from the graves that have spun the club. And it’s impossible to forget to wake up.”
And Mircea Lucescu also expressed confidence that if Buyalsky, the leader of the attacks and the team's top scorer (11 goals), had played, Dynamo would have had more chances to win, because it is difficult to create scoring chances without him.
Buyalsky, we recall, received a red card after the final whistle of the previous match against Dnipro-1 (1:0). The broadcast from Uzhgorod turned out to be specific - with numerous losses of picture and sound. So it was impossible to see what was happening at times. However, the very fact of removal took place. And this is fraught with serious disqualification.
“I also don’t quite understand why Buyalsky ran to sort things out with the arbitrator and what he told Krivushkin, - TV journalist Igor Tsyganyk admitted on the air of his author's program. — But everything will be clearly written in the judge's report. And this report will be considered by the Disciplinary Committee, and Buyalsky will definitely be punished. For whom is it easier? It’s just that the player let the team down after the match won.”
Passing such a verdict to Buyalsky, it is important to clarify a very significant point: what prompted the player to unsportsmanlike behavior? And he prompted the episode in the 82nd minute, when in a non-game situation, the Argentinean Blanco deliberately pushed Buyalsky, and then stepped on the ankle of the supporting leg, risking serious injury to the opponent.
According to all football canons, this is a direct red card. But Krivushkin limited himself to yellow, and VAR referee Yevgeny Aranovsky, having the opportunity to watch a bunch of replays, did not even intervene in the situation.
“Yellow? Are you seriously? You told the media about aggressive behavior and that it was a red card. You yourself have been explaining for years what the intention to injure an opponent is. There was both here and there. And just yellow? Watch dozens of similar episodes in our football. But Krivushkin didn’t even go to see VAR, ” Viktor Vatsko appealed to the UAF refereeing authorities.
The conclusion, according to Vacko, is obvious. If Blanco received a red card, this would be at least three matches of suspension. If he had not received any, then he should have been sentenced after the fact after watching the video of the episode. And so Krivushkin rated Blanco's foul in yellow and brushed off the key player of Dnipro from further sanctions.
Intentionally or not is another question. It is unlikely that any punishment will follow for the arbitrator. Although, say, the executive committee of the Football Federation of Kyiv quickly assessed Aranovsky's non-intervention in the situation as deliberate and biased, which does not correspond to his professional qualifications.
On the other hand, the head of the UAF Referees Committee, Luciano Luci, also non-publicly admitted the referee's mistake in the Dnipro-1 - Dynamo match, which the website told with reference to journalist Igor Semyon Sport.ua: “In a private chat, Luciano wrote: “This is a clear red card.” The referee must see this is without VAR intervention» (03/13/23).
“This is a simple episode, which can be shown to novice referees for the butt of football hooliganism, - in turn, the ex-FIFA referee Miroslav Stupar commented. — Krivushkin was ten meters away and everything was fine, but he made the wrong decision. The whole behavior in the eyes of the referee is not in the fight for the ball. Blanco just pissed and hit Buyalsky in the legs. This is direct aggression and a red card, as if it would be ostentatious for everyone. So, the arbitrator at the VAR may signal that this episode deserves a red card " (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 03/12/2023).
If this was a single episode, perhaps it would not have been so much attention. But after all, in the previous match with Dnipro, Dynamo in a meeting with Ingulets was sued by Ekaterina Monzul. And then the mentor of "Minaj" Vladimir Sharan complained about the goal of the players of "Alexandria" from offside. On the contrary, a clean goal by Lviv in the match with Zorya was annulled due to an imaginary offside position. Vorskla scored one of its goals against Veres after the referees missed an obvious out.
Who knows, maybe because increased attention was riveted to the judicial issue, the 18th round passed without obvious mistakes of the referee. Although, say, a yellow card to Dynamo Tymchik, who cleared the ball in the fight first with Guerrero, and then with Rusin, raised great doubts...
Victor ZHURAVLEV
