FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Celtic FC MATCH PRESS KIT RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Donetsk Tuesday 18 September 2007 - 20.45CET Group D - Matchday 1
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FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Celtic FC MATCH PRESS KIT RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Donetsk Tuesday 18 September 2007 - 20.45CET Group D - Matchday 1 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic FC meet in their opening Group D fixture both aiming to avoid the fate that befell them when they were last drawn together in the UEFA Champions League. Then, in season 2004/05, neither side made it beyond the group stage and, with holders AC Milan the undoubted favourites to win this section, a losing start for either here would leave them facing an uphill struggle to finish in the top two. • There are grounds for optimism in both camps. Shakhtar may have missed out on the knockout stages in their three previous group stage campaigns but they have a strong home record in the competition, having registered five wins and two draws in nine matches at their RSC Olympiyskiy stadium. • As for Celtic, champions of Europe in 1967, they will be determined to build on their success of last season where, at the fourth attempt, they progressed for the first time to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League in its modern format. • Second in the Ukrainian Premier League last season, Mircea Lucescu's team reached the group stage by retrieving a two-goal deficit to defeat FC Salzburg in the third qualifying round. Already trailing 1-0 after a first-leg loss in Austria, Shakhtar fell further behind when Remo Meyer struck five minutes into the return. However, goals from Cristiano Lucarelli (9) and substitutes Nery Alberto Castillo (79) and Brandão (87) earned the Ukrainian side victory. • Scottish champions Celtic also progressed in dramatic circumstances, overcoming FC Spartak Moskva 4-3 on penalties after two 1-1 draws. Gordon Strachan’s side led in both ties, but strikes from Paul Hartley in Moscow and Scott McDonald in Glasgow were cancelled out by Roman Pavlyuchenko on each occasion. Both Pavlyuchenko and Celtic's Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink missed penalties in the return fixture before the concluding shootout where two saves from Artur Boruc proved decisive. • Shakhtar were 3-0 winners when the teams met in Ukraine on 20 October 2004, prevailing through second-half goals from Matuzalem (2) and Brandão. It was their first encounter with a Scottish side. • The lineups for the match were: Shakhtar - Jan Laštuvka; Flavius Stoican, Cosmin Barcauan, Mariusz Lewandowski, Razvan Rat; Andriy Vorobey (Brandão), Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Matuzalem; Zvonimir Vukić; Julius Agahowa (Darijo Srna), Ciprian Marica (Igor Duljaj) Last updated 16.09.2007 22:17:58CET Match background 1 FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Celtic FC Tuesday 18 September 2007 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Donetsk Celtic - David Marshall; Didier Agathe, Stanislav Varga, Dianbobo Balde, Jackie McNamara (Stephen McManus); Stilian Petrov, Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton, Juninho Paulista (Aiden McGeady); John Hartson, Henri Camara. • Six Shakhtar players in action that day are still at the club – Brandão, Duljaj, Lewandowski, Rat, Srna and Vukić – but only three from that Celtic side remain – Balde, McGeady and McManus. • Celtic won the return 1-0 – only their second victory in eight past meetings with Ukrainian opposition. • Celtic reached the first knockout round of last season's competition thanks to their formidable home form. They won all three home games in the group stage while losing every match outside Celtic Park. In the first knockout round, an extra-time Kaká strike at San Siro consigned them to a 1-0 aggregate defeat by Milan. • Those four away defeats in last term's competition mean Celtic have lost 12 of 13 previous away matches in the UEFA Champions League. • Shakhtar lost fewer games than Celtic in the 2006/07 group stage – only two and both away from home – but the fact they only won once, a 1-0 home success against AS Roma, consigned them to third place in their section. • They duly stepped into the UEFA Cup where their hopes were extinguished in the Round of 16 by eventual winners Sevilla FC, who won 3-2 in Donetsk after a 2-2 draw in Spain. Match facts Shakhtar • Igor Duljaj's next appearance in UEFA club competition will be his 70th. • Evgen Bredun celebrated his 25th birthday on 10 September, six days after Tomáš Hübschman turned 26. • Shakhtar defeated FC Chornomorets Odesa 2-1 on Saturday afternoon to strengthen their position on top of the Ukrainian Premier League. Cristiano Lucarelli was first on target after 20 minutes with a penalty. On 52 minutes, Mircea Lucescu's team doubled their lead as Dmytro Chygrynskiy rose to head in Jadson's corner. Oleh Venhlinskyy pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute. • Mariusz Lewandowski and Volodymyr Yezerskiy were rested, with Hübschman and Vyacheslav Shevchuk coming in. Willian made his debut, appearing as a substitute for Jadson in the second half. Olexandr Gladkiy was saved until early in the second half, with Brandão and Lucarelli the forward partnership. Nery Castillo was also given a break from action. • "After international games clubs always have certain problems," said Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu. "Overall I'm not satisfied with our performance, even though we created enough chances. We were not as concentrated as normal, especially when it came to organisation of defence. Even so we got the three points and the enthusiasm after today's match should help us against Celtic. I'm satisfied, because Chornomorets are a good and well-organised team." • Shakhtar suffered a number of departures before the start of the new season. Matuzalem (€8m to Real Zaragoza), Ciprian Marica (€8m to VfB Stuttgart), Elano Blumer (€12m to Manchester City FC), Andriy Vorobey and Vyacheslav Sviderskiy (both €1m to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk) all moved on. • Shakhtar nevertheless spent almost €60m on new players over the summer, Lucarelli joining from AS Livorno Calcio for €8m on a three-year deal. He became the first Italian to play in the Ukrainian top flight and chose to wear the No99 shirt. Last updated 16.09.2007 22:17:58CET Match facts 2 FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Celtic FC Tuesday 18 September 2007 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Donetsk • Gladkiy signed for €2.5m from FC Kharkiv on a five-year contract, while a club-record €20m was spent on Castillo from Olympiacos CFP. • Ilsinho arrived from São Paulo FC for €11m after taking the advice of former Shakhtar player Elano. He now lives in the house where his countrymate stayed during his stint in Donetsk. • Yezerskiy signed for €1.2m from Dnipro and Willian left SC Corinthians for €14m. • Andriy Pyatov also completed his switch to Shakhtar after signing a five-year contract in December but spending six months with former club FC Vorskla Poltava. He officially became a Shakhtar player on 30 June. • Dmytro Shutkov decided to prolong his playing career by one more year after originally planning to hang up his gloves to move into coaching. The veteran has played more times for Shakhtar than anyone in the club's history, appearing 265 times in the top flight after making his debut in August 1991. • Shakhtar were beaten in the Ukrainian Super Cup on 10 July, losing out 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw against FC Dynamo Kyiv. Gladkiy opened the scoring and after the champions had fought back to lead 2-1, Serhiy Tkachenko forced the match into a shoot-out. • The teams met again five days later in the opening league fixture of the season and once again it finished honours even, this time 1-1 in Donetsk. Since that game the club have gone on an impressive eight-game winning run in the Premier League, beating FC Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka (3-0), FC Zorya Luhansk (3-0), FC Zakarpattya Uzhgorod (1-0), FC Vorskla Poltava (2-1), FC Metalist Kharkiv (3-1), SC Tavriya Simferopol (2-0), FC Arsenal Kyiv (4-1) and Chornomorets (2-1). • Castillo had to play both legs of Shaktar's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against FC Salzburg wearing a special mask after suffering a broken nose in an earlier league game. • The player enjoyed a busy summer after playing for Mexico at the Copa América, where his team finished third. Castillo also featured for Mexico in their 3-1 friendly defeat against Brazil on 12 September. • Gladkiy made his bow for Ukraine and scored his first senior international goal in a friendly 2-1 win against Uzbekistan on 22 August. • Yezerskiy and Olexandr Kucher played the whole of Ukraine's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying Group B matches against Georgia and Italy on September 8 and 12 respectively. Olexiy Gay was as a substitute against Georgia and started against Italy while Gladkiy came on in the second half of both games. • Lucarelli was a substitute in Italy's 0-0 draw against France in Group B on 8 September, while Darijo Srna started Croatia's Group E qualifiers against Estonia and Andorra. He missed a penalty in the first game but made amends with a goal in the 6-0 victory against Andorra. • Răzvan Raţ played the full 90 minutes of Romania's 3-0 Group G win against Belarus on 8 September, Lewandowski completed both of Poland's Group A games against Portugal and Finland and Duljaj was a second-half substitute in Serbia's draw against Portugal in the same section. • Before the new academic year Shakhtar issued more than 400,000 diaries to schools containing the club's details and 132,000 learning tables in both Russian and Ukrainian.