Kharkov club starts in European competitions

football Europa League

Today two Ukrainian clubs - Donetsk "Metallurg" and "Metalist" - will begin their performances in the decisive qualifying round of the Europa League. The Donetsk team, which passed the Belarusian MTZ-RIPO in the previous stage of selection, will host the Slovenian Interblock. Metalist, which starts in European competition, will play against Rijeka in Croatia.

Thanks to the fact that since the beginning of the 2009/10 season the European Football Union transformed the UEFA Cup into the Europa League, Ukraine was able to delegate three clubs to the second most important European Cup tournament. Donetsk Metallurg will play first in the Europa League, having beaten Belarusian MTZ-RIPO twice in the second qualifying round - 3:0 and 2:1. Today, in the first match of the next qualifying stage, the Donetsk team will host the Slovenian Interblock. Metalist will begin its performance in European competitions; the Kharkov team's opponent in the away match will be the Croatian Rijeka. Ukrainian Cup winner Vorskla will start immediately in the main draw of the Europa League.

Previously, Metallurg played in European cup tournaments four times (always in the UEFA Cup), but never progressed beyond the second round. This season, the Donetsk team has a chance to break an unpleasant tradition for the club - the opponent of Nikolai Kostov's team is quite weak. In the mediocre Slovenian championship, Interblock finished only sixth, and the club from Ljubljana received a place in the Europa League thanks to winning the Slovenian Cup. In two matches of the national championship that began, Interblock scored four points. Igor Benedejcic's team beat Olimpija - 3:1, and tied with Domzale - 0:0. In addition, in the game for the Slovenian Super Cup, Interblock lost to the national champion, Maribor, 2:3 in extra time.

Perhaps, only the Donetsk team’s busy calendar of matches can prevent Metallurg from passing the modest Interblock. Over the past two weeks, Metallurg, which played with an almost unchanged lineup, played four meetings (in the championship, the Donetsk team tied with Dnepr (0:0) and Karpaty (2:2)). The club from Donetsk will play four more matches over the next two weeks. The game of Nikolai Kostov's team in the new season is determined by newcomers. Midfielder Alexey Godin and forwards Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Musavengoshi Mguni, who scored all seven goals in the new season, fit into the game well. However, last year's team leaders, Sunny Kingsley and Konstantinos Makridis, as well as the blossoming Djordje Lazic, remain irreplaceable in Metallurg.

The match between Metallurg and Interblock will be refereed by Pole Robert Malek.

It is unlikely that the bronze medalist of the Ukrainian Championship, Metalist, will have problems reaching the next stage. Rijeka finished last season third in the championship of her country. But the level of this club can be judged by how it started in the Europa League. The opponent of Robert Rubcic's team in the second qualifying round was Luxembourg's Differdange. In the first match, Rijeka managed to lose to Differdange away - 0:1. The Croatian club won at home - 3:0 - thanks to goals from Tarik Seric and brothers Ahmad and Anas Sharbini. Last Sunday, in the first round of the Croatian championship, Rijeka won a big victory: the newcomer to the top division Lokomotiva was defeated at home - 6:0, and the Sharbini brothers chalked up a hat-trick.

Metalist, which reached the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup last season, did not demonstrate the level of play in two matches of the Ukrainian Championship that had brought the team bronze medals for three years in a row. The Kharkov team beat Obolon, which returned to the major league, in Kyiv - 2:0, and last Saturday they lost to Dnepr in Dnepropetrovsk with a similar score. Metalist head coach Miron Markevich said that the decline in his team's play is due to the fact that it does not have a player in its lineup capable of making the last pass. Meanwhile, the problems of the Kharkov club are not limited to the lack of a playmaker. Metalist was left without qualified full-backs: Dmitry Semochko, Andrey Konyushenko and Severin Gancharzhik left the team in the summer, Vitaly Bordiyan was injured. The Kharkiv attack leader, Jackson, will also not be able to play for the team due to injury. Other Metalist forwards - Marko Devic, Denis Oleinik and Vladimir Lysenko, who came from Dynamo - are not yet ready to fully replace the Brazilian.

The match between Rijeka and Metalist will be judged by Finnish referee Juni Hyytä.

Lev Kommersant-Knyazev

"Metalist" enters the game