‘Victory for Ukraine’: Shakhtar Donetsk have unlikely win in Europa League

Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk have not played in their home city since 2014. The underground car park of their ground in Donbas is being used by the Russians to store weapons. They have endured an exodus of star foreign players, including the sale of star winger Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea last month.

But in a David and Goliath win over French side Rennes, Shakhtar Donetsk have gatecrashed their way into the last 16 of the Europa League.

After a 5-4 victory, powered by three saves from Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin during the penalty shootout, the team will now play a quarter-final match in Poland and could face world heavyweight clubs like Arsenal and Roma.

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Igor Jovicevic hailed the win, which comes on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, as a “victory for Ukraine”.

“It was very important. This match was for you, Ukraine, it was for our country, for Ukraine,” said Jovicevic. “We were in the game until the end. You could almost say that we died on the pitch, that we left our arms and legs there. This victory is a reward for our work.”

Shakhtar Donetsk have not played in Donetsk since April 2014, when conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas and Luhansk regions forced the team to stage “home” league matches in Lviv, 1,200km away. Their European matches are played on neutral ground in Warsaw.

“Psychologically, it can destroy you,” Jovicevic told ESPN last year. “After the game, we have a 10-hour journey home. For other teams, it is rest, they can go to the jacuzzi, have a massage, go to the barbecue with their family. No other team in Europe has to do it like us – we are travelling all the time, so there is a real accumulation of mental and physical