Football fans know it's a special occasion today since its time for the Europe League semi-finals. The featured match is between Liverpool and Villarreal, with Jurgen Klopp three matches away from guiding the Reds back to the Champions League. We want to talk about one of the teams in the other match between Shakhtar Donetsk and two-time defending champion Sevilla.
You see, Shakhtar - a perennial European power - has not played in its home city for quite some time. Credit goes to the Guardian's Tim Rich, for spotlighting how it's been nearly two years since Shakhtar last called Donetsk home. That's when pro-Russian separatists seized control of the city in a conflict that rages on endlessly.
The list of players that have come through Shakhtar is impressive. The club made smart purchases of young Brazilian players who were developed into stars.
Captain Darijo Srna told the Guardian: “This team is stronger than the one in 2009. It is stronger mentally, its potential is bigger and they are very motivated. We have lost our homes, our stadium and our fans. We have lost the training ground and we have lost our city. We are one step away from the final and this team deserves respect.
“People who thought Shakhtar would fall apart don’t know our president and they don’t know our club. We have lost I don’t know how many important players – Willian, Fernandinho, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, [Alex] Teixeira – and we have maintained the same level of play. You have seen how well Willian and Fernandinho have played in England. This club made them.”
Shakhtar has a special place in the heart of the IMOTGP blog since we journeyed there less than a year before the conflict for a Champions League matchup between Shakhtar and Bayer Leverkusen (who play Hertha this weekend in a much anticipated matchup, but we digress).
You can see that the Donbass Arena is truly a marvelous place and your faithful blogger made good friends with Krot, the mole mascot of the club. A gripping match saw stars like Douglas Costa and Fernando and Emre Can all taking part in front of a packed crowd.
And this old mining town wasn't just some football factory. It featured the famous Donets Basin, amazing parks and even New York Pizza.
Said Srna: "Donetsk was beautiful. It had restaurants, parks, good schools. It was a city of the future. I said when I left that, if we came back, I would kneel down and kiss the street. Now I will kiss every road. Everyone wants a happy ending. Everyone."
A happy ending would be a trip to Basel for a Europa League final. This matchup has history since they met in the UEFA Cup round of 16 nine years ago. Shakhtar had a 4-3 lead on aggregate in the third minute of second-half stoppage time when this happened:
That's right, goalkeeper Andres Palop scored to level the tie and Sevilla went on to win in extra time and eventually captured the UEFA Cup. Two years later, Shakhtar captured that trophy for their first piece of European hardware. These are clubs with plenty of recent tradition, although one is fighting for something more than Europa League glory. They are fighting to give their fans over 700 miles away hope.
This has been A Very Special IMOTGP Post.
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