The former forward of Kyiv’s Dynamo Artem Milevsky recalled the confrontation with Donetsk’s Shakhtar in the UEFA Cup semifinal of the 2008/09 season and some moments from the first match of this two-legged duel, which took place in Kyiv and ended in a 1:1 draw (let's remember that in the return match, the miners won, 2:1).
“There was no need to say anything. We were not told anything at all: everyone perfectly understood what this semifinal meant and that it was interesting for the fans.
I remember the moment when Sanya Kuchr, as usual, tackled me by the legs. I even injured my thigh and spent the last 15 minutes practically running on one leg. I asked for a substitution, but Semin (Yuri Semin, then - head coach of Dynamo, - ed.) shouts: 'Play, come on, play!'.
I remember trying to get the ball, positioning my body, Aliyev knows what I will do next, he always knew what I would do. Somehow, I managed to lift the ball over him. He struck with his left foot (and we all know perfectly well that he can shoot with both feet), and I already saw the ball in the net. I don’t know how he missed... I should have lifted the ball a bit higher over Pyatov, but he closed in, reducing the angle - it didn’t work out,” said Milevsky in a comment to the YouTube channel FootballHub.