From the depths of Donetsk ores

Shakhtar Donetsk, which started the Champions League season with two wins over Celtic and Benfica, before the last round has only a ghostly chance of reaching the Champions League playoffs, for which the Pitmen's management spent more than $70 million this year to strengthen the composition. In order for the dream to come true, you must definitely beat the Portuguese club again and hope for the unmotivated Milan - he must win at home against Celtic.

Three hundred days have passed since the last time I put on the Shakhtar shirt, and, of course, during this time I simply could not lose interest in the team in which I spent nine years. Therefore, watching my former partners play in the Champions League, I feel uneasy at the mere thought that my Shakhtar, having performed brilliantly in Europe this season, may end up not playing in European competitions at all in the spring.

For Shakhtar, such a turn of events could be fatal. It's no secret that this year the team was created specifically for reaching the playoffs of the Champions League: $ 75 million spent on strengthening the squad is a direct proof of this. In Europe, Shakhtar have even been nicknamed "Chelsea" from Eastern Europe, clearly alluding to the fact that the team spends money thoughtlessly and has little understanding of whether they really need this or that player. There is some bitter truth in this expression: after all, not all acquired players now play in the base, many have not shown themselves better than those who were already at the club. And the loudest purchase - Italian Serie A scorer Cristiano Lucarelli - spends most of his time on the bench.

But there is still an important difference with Chelsea: Shakhtar are in a different weight category. Everyone dreams of going to England, only those who want to earn money dream of going to Ukraine.

But even with this premium, the investment is huge. And they simply could not be invested in order, for example, to win the next championship of Ukraine or somehow successfully play in the UEFA Cup. Shakhtar's task for this season sounded different: by all means to get into the Champions League play-offs. If this does not happen, then the sad story of the last season may repeat itself, when the frustrated Pitmen had a record-breaking black streak: they lost the lead in the championship, lost to Dynamo in the Ukrainian Cup final, and, in addition to everything, they also lost to understudies Kiev club in the match for the Super Cup.

The denouement will come this week. I believe in the best, because the theoretical chance to leave the group remains. Shakhtar, I think, will play sharp-attacking football - just like they always did in this League season. But attacking football does not always bring the desired result: once the opponent plays competently on counterattacks, the picture turns upside down. Therefore, this is what interests me: is Shakhtar satisfied with a tit in their hands in the form of the UEFA Cup playoffs (for this you just need not lose to Benfica) or will they still take risks. I think that Shakhtar will chase the crane.

This is generally in the style of coach Mircea Lucescu - to play on the nerves of the audience. Remember which team gave the start: unconditional victories over Celtic and Benfica, because of which even skeptics stopped looking soberly at the team's prospects, and then equally unconditional defeats in matches with Milan. Enthusiasm peaked again in Glasgow, where the Pitmen opened the scoring. And then it came to naught again: two goals from the Scots (the last in stoppage time) returned the fans from heaven to earth. The joy was too premature.

Fans who will fill the stadium in Donetsk on Tuesday evening will see enchanting football. Both teams - both Shakhtar and Benfica - will play from the knife: a defeat puts an end to further European prospects. During the year of playing in Russia, I participated in many such matches and I want to say that emotions play the main role here. Whatever performers the teams have, the one that wants more wins. During the current Champions League, Shakhtar sometimes showed adventurous football, sometimes the team was unlucky, sometimes they lacked equipment. But no one can blame the players for the lack of desire.