Ukraine's Shakhtar gets lucrative lift into Champions League from title races across Europe
GENEVA (AP) — If any European soccer club deserved some luck to get a lucrative place in the Champions League, it was surely Shakhtar Donetsk . Recent results in the Champions League, but also in the Greek and Scottish leagues at the weekend, favored Shakhtar in the often complex qualifying path for soccer’s most coveted club competition. Now the new champion of Ukraine will skip the jeopardy of three Champions League qualifying rounds in July and August to go directly to the elite 36-team main phase starting in September.
That should earn at least 35 million euros ($41 million) in UEFA prize money for a club deprived of revenue during a Russian war on Ukraine now in a fifth year. Shakhtar also has since 2014 been exiled from Donetsk by the first wave of Russian-backed conflict. “I think we deserve to be there in the Champions League,” Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin told The Associated Press on Tuesday in a telephone interview.
“We are sending a message that our club continues to represent Ukrainian football with dignity. ” Shakhtar’s success is both “a statement from our clubs” and “moments of pride” for Ukrainian people, Palkin said. So it's a big thank you from Ukraine to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, and also to AEK Athens, Heart of Midlothian and Celtic.
How Shakhtar got to the Champions League The short version: Shakhtar had to win the Ukraine Premier League; neither Olympiakos nor Rangers could win their domestic titles; the Champions League winner had to be already qualified for next season’s edition. Three pieces fell into place Sunday. In Greece, Olympiakos drew its game while leader AEK Athens won to clinch the title.
In Scotland, Rangers’ title hopes ended by losing at Celtic, which is now in a duel with Hearts. Shakhtar’s 4-0 win at Poltava sealed its 16th league title. But that no longer gets the direct Champions League entry typically earned before the war when Ukrainian soccer was stronger and richer.
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