The Kings of Ukraine

Shakhtar Donetsk win the Ukrainian Super Cup

Shakhtar Donetsk boss Sergy Samparistol first game in charge was one to remember as they easily overcame Chornomorets Odessa to lift the trophy.

Things started well for the new boss as defender Yaroslav Rakitskyi scored a fantastic freekick from the edge of the box, nestling into the top corner four minutes in.

Shakhtar had plenty of chances, with Chornomorets rarely threatening. It took till the seventy-first minute for The Miners to score again, Tomas Hubschman converting from the spot after Yurchenko was brought down by Fontanello.

In Samparistol's post-match conference, he said that this trophy was the first of many for Shakhtar. "I want to win more trophies. Big trophies. Every year. I promised this to the Shakhtar board and the fans, and I never break promises."

He also commented on new big-money buy Cesc Fabregas' preformance. "He played very well, considering it was his first game with the squad and he has only been around for two days. I had to sub him as he was very tired, and I did not want him to sustain an injury, so I had to take him off."

MATCH DETAILS
Chornomorets 0-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Yaroslav Rakitskyi (4, Shakhtar Donetsk)
Tomas Hubschman (pen 71, Shakhtar Donetsk)
Yaroslav Rakitskyi (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Eduard Sobol (49, Shakhtar Donetsk)
Pavlo Rebenok (61, Chornomorets)


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SUBSTITUTES (Chornomorets)
#5 Anderson Santana#33 Andriy Slinkin
#82 Pavlo Rebenok #99 Sito Riera
#23 Franck Dja Djedje #20 Elis Bakaj

SUBSTITUTES (Shakhtar)
#16 Alessio Cerci #7 Wellington Nem
#24 Dmytro Grechyshkin #3 Tomas Hubschman
#18 Cesc Fabregas #6 Taras Stepanenko

Shakhtar Donetsk have confirmed two transfer deals. One layer coming in and the other leaving.

22 year-old winger Douglas Costa has left the club for Dinamo Moscow for a fee of £9.5million. He joined the club in 2009 and has been a key player in the Shakhtar side ever since. The Brazilian's transfer has had a mixed reception from The Moles fans, but they say the club did well to get that fee for the player.

Italian forward Fabio Quagliarella has joined Shakhtar on a season long loan from Italian Champions Juventus. He was deemed surplus at the Turin side, but will provide good, solid, reliable back-up for Shakhtar.

Spanish striker Diego Costa has joined Shakhtar Donetsk for his release clause fee of £32million. The former Atletico Madrid player, who scored 16 league goals, was introduced to the press this morning. He said he was looking forward to "an adventure".

"The move is something I would not usually make, no disrespect to the Ukrainian League and Cesc, who made the same move as me, you would not expect to see a top player in a top league move to Ukraine. But the manager's ideas' and ambitions got me, and now I cannot wait to pull on a Shakhtar shirt."

Manager Sergy Samparistol told the press he was happy to get a "fantastic goal scorer and player in his team".

I only contacted Costa's agent, Brain Marin a week ago. Usually negotiations take place and it takes weeks for these type of transfers, involving big players, but this was done so quickly, and I am very happy and I cannot wait to see him on the pitch.

Meanwhile, defender Olexandr Volovyk has left the club on a free contract after the club released him and Dmytro Chygrynskyi has been ruled out for three weeks with a pulled hamstring.

July 2013 Review

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A poor game from both sides, very few chances, and none could be converted, yet we dominated the ball but our passing was poor.

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A great performance from my side. We dominated the ball, playing good passes, winning all headers, put in good crosses. The only let down was conceding the penalty when Cesc Fabregas brought down Petrov.

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A disappointing first half with very few chances. The second half was slightly better, and Diego Costa got his second goal in as many games for the club, sealing the win.

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Manager's Opinion

Overall a very good first month in charge. It was just how I dreamt it, lifting the Super Cup at the beginning. We were favourites to win the Metalist game, put we were poor and a point sounds about right. The Arsenal Kyiv game was great, out football was very pleasing and it felt great to be in charge of such a great club, and the one I support. The Sevastopol game was slightly disappointing, as we dominated, and just couldn't find the back of the net, and personally, I think that if I hadn't signed Costa, we would not have won the game, and it would have been exactly the same as the Metalist game.

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The young Ukrainian Left Back looked like he was about 29, not 18, making quite a few good tackles and stopping a lot of runs, and just generally being solid.

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League Table & Next Fixtures

We sit third after 3 games. I personally think this is a good position, as we are still in the title race, but we are not pressurised into results. A dream start for me.



Apart from Dinpro, we have an easy set of fixtures for August. The Dinpro game could be key, even this early on, to where the title ends up.

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Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has joined Shakhtar Donetsk from Hamburg SV in Germany for a fee of £13million. The Netherlands International, who has won 106 caps for his country, is pleased with the move.

"I want to help Shakhtar win the Champions League, and the reason I moved here was to do that. Hamburg, even though I love the club so dearly, was not at that level, and really, a player with over 100 caps for his country, should be playing in the elite competition in Europe. I just want to say thank you to the Hamburg fans of welcoming me back, but I want to play a high level of football, and Shakhtar bought me this. I cannot wait to play alongside Costa and Fabregas and other top players here, and I am very pleased that I was given this wonderful opportunity!"

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I picked up my phone. It was Rinat Akhmetov. He was at the Champions League draw, while I was taking the training session back in Ukraine. I was expecting the phone call of the results. But definitely not in this manner. "Flipping Hell" he exclaimed. I knew it wasn't good. Teams that we desperately wanted to avoid came into my head. Manchester City. Chelsea. Barcelona. Real Madrid. "We have the Group of Death." Without letting me say a word, he put ended the call.

About two minutes later, I got a text. It read: Group G is our group. First seed: Bayern Munich. Ah. The best team in Europe, I thought to myself. I carried on reading. Second seed: Us. Third Seed: Manchester City. Ah, again. This was the team I so desperately wanted to avoid. So, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. To top teams with bag loads of cash that are capable of winning the trophy itself. This was a problem, and we would do well to finish second, first is a definite no-no. I carried on reading. Fourth seed: GNK Dinamo. Even though they were only a fourth seed, they dominated the Croatian leagues, and have quality players. A very tough draw...

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August 2013 Review

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We have far more shots than Metalurg, but they took their chances, well, kind of, as they missed a penalty, just us, and this sums up our performance.

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We dominated the first half, but all our possession came to nothing, which was a massive disappointment. My half time team moan seemed to work as Diego Costa is through on goal, but his shot is saved, but the rebound falls to Fabregas, who scores his first goal for the club. A scrappy win.

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I really, really do not know how we won this. We were being overrun all the way through, and a certain Ukrainian winger running riot. But somehow a Bernard freekick from the half-way line causes a problem in the box, but the ball falls back to Bernard, who buries it from the edge of the box just before Half-Time. At half time, I made us more defensive to soak up the pressure, which thankfully worked, and we came out with a really important three points.

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For this I changed from my 4-2-3-1 tactic to a different one. The 4-2-3-1 was working well, a defensivley solid tactic, but we were not scoring goals. So I changed to a 4-4-2, hoping the two upfront would solve the goal scoring issues we had, and we should have won this by more. We dominated, and created lots of good chances. We scored early on, a Bernard corner reaches the head of Chygrynskyi , who buries. As I said, we should have won by more, and goal difference is key to winning a league title

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And the switch of tactics pays off. After speaking to Diego Costa about his poor form, he goes and scored early on. Facundo Ferreyra scored two on only his second start for the club, after overcoming an injury that hampered his start.

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Manager's Opinion

A disappointing start with the draw, but things got better as the month went on. The Champions League draw is not good, but we will handle it. The 3-0 victory right at the end of the month was brilliant, and really good football with the two strikers forming a great partnership. We just need to carry this through the rest of the season, and that title will be ours! And I am proving to the board that I am the man, as we are unbeaten!

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The reliable right back has been sensational this season so far. The lowest rating he has had is 6.8, which is a normal players average. He has been so solid as well, and being a great captain!

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League Table & Next Fixtures

Second is not bad considering how poor we have played in some games, but I guess we have been winning, which is the main thing. We were top for a day, and that is were we will be at the end of September!



A tough start to September, facing top of the table Dynamo Kyiv, and who ever wins that will go top, and most likely win the title, so it is a massive game. Then after that we have our first game of the Champions League, against Manchester City, who we will do well to get a draw against, as their midfield and attack is immense. The other games of the month is nice and easy, and ones we should win!