On Feb. 21 three Ukrainian clubs were at once eliminated from European competition after their disappointing second-leg performances in the Europa League’s round of 32, leaving Shakhtar Donetsk as the nation’s last remaining hope for football honors on the continent, still doing battle in the Champions League.
Dynamo
Kyiv dropped out following a 1-0 loss to Bordeaux in France. Metalist
Kharkiv exited with a 0-1 loss at home to England’s Newcastle, and Dnipro
Dnipropetrovsk’s 1-1 tie with Switzerland’s
Basel wasn’t enough to advance.
Shakhtar next plays Germany’s Dortmund
Borussia in a second-leg
match of the Champions League last-16 on March 5. Dortmund scored two away-goals in their
first leg matchup in Donetsk in a 2-2 tie on Feb. 13, giving the Germans a
tie-break advantage.
Shakhtar will need to win on the road or
secure at least a two-goal tie to ensure chances for advancement in the
continent’s supreme football club competition.
Kyiv
Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached [email protected].
