European Cups: Who Will Be The Ukrainians’ Competition?

On the last weekend of May many European countries finished their national championships that determined the contestants for the most prestigious club tournament, the UEFA Champions League. The Ukrainian vice-champion will start in the second qualifying round. Both Kyiv Dynamo and Donetsk Shakhtar will be seeded teams at this stage. The possible competitors of the Ukrainian teams are Switzerland’s Thun, Swedish Malmo, Slovakia’s champion (FC Petrzalka currently tops the scoreboard), as well as the winners of the first qualifying round. The highest-scoring soccer clubs are Cypriot leader FC Anorthosis, Slovenia’s Nova Gorica, Finland’s FC Haka, Ireland’s FC Shelbourne, Bosnia’s FC Mostar, Latvia’s FC Skonto, Moldavia’s FC Sheriff, Lithuanian FBK Kaunas, Macedonian FC Rabotnicki, and Georgia’s champion. In the third qualifying round Donetsk Shakhtar will be in the group of unseeded teams. The draws may pit Shakhtar against more prominent teams: Manchester United (England), Inter (Italy), Panathinaikos (Greece), Villarreal (Spain), Sporting (Portugal), Monaco (France), Ajax (the Netherlands), Brugge (Belgium), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), and Werder Bremen (Germany), Rosenborg (Norway), Slavia (Czech Republic). If Shakhtar makes it into the second knockout round, it might face Celtic (Scotland), Anderlecht (Belgium), or Lokomotiv (Russia), which have already defeated Shakhtar once at this stage. Kyiv Dynamo might also face major clubs from the leading championships, but they are luckier: Betis (Spain), Basel (Switzerland), Wisla (Poland), Udinese (Italy), Everton (England), as well as lower-standing winners of the second qualifying round: Partizan (Serbia), Maccabi Haifa (Israel), Denmark’s champion (Brondby is in the lead), Rapid (Austria), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Debrezen (Hungary), Trabzonspor (Turkey), Romania’s champion, Valerenga (Norway), and Hajduk (Croatia). The draws for the first and second qualifying rounds will take place on June 24, according to www.champion.com.ua. Second-round matches will take place on June 26-27 and August 3. The draws for the third round will take place on June 29, and matches on August 9-10 and 23-24.