Shakhtar Donetsk fought hard for a 1:1 tie with French side Olympique Lyonnais on Dec. 12 in Kyiv, but the result wasn’t enough to take the Ukrainian champions through to the last 16 of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious soccer tournament.
Shakhtar will now join Ukrainian Premier League silver medalist Dynamo Kyiv in the play-off round of the second tier Europa League, with the draw for the next stage taking place on Dec. 17 in Nyon, Switzerland.
The game between Shakhtar and Lyon had been scheduled to take place in Kharkiv, but was transferred to Kyiv after on Nov. 28 a martial law was officially introduced in 10 oblasts, including Kharkiv, by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. 38,916 people attended the game in Kyiv, which was played in heavy snow.
Before the game, Shakhtar, with five points from five games, trailed second place Lyon by two points, meaning that the Ukrainian side needed a win to advance to the last 16, with only two teams from each of the groups of four advancing to the next round.
Shakhtar opened the scoring midway through the first half, with a goal from the team’s Brazilian striker Junior Moraes assisted by the team’s left-back, Ismaily. Lyon also had several chances to score, but failed to capitalize on them in the first half.
Nonetheless, the quantity of chances created by the French side turned into quality on the 65 minute, when French international Nabil Fekir rocketed a shot in to the top left corner.
The last third of the game was dominated by Shakhtar, with the Ukrainian side in desperate need of a goal. But it never came, and the French side now joins the group’s winners, English Premier League champions Manchester City, in advancing to the next round from Group F. The German side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim came in last with 3 points after 6 games. Manchester City won the group with 13 points.
Shaktar finished the group in third place, with 1 win, 3 draws, 2 loses and 6 points in total and now enters the Europa League play-offs, where it will join Dynamo Kyiv, who earned a play-off spot by winning Europa League Group K in advance.
