Shakhtar has been preparing for Turkey since the invasion of Russian troops and will play the first match on Saturday in Athens against Olympiakos. Duels against Lechia Gdansk (April 14), Fenerbahce (April 19) and Hajduk Split (May 1) will follow.
“We want to talk about war and peace in Ukraine with these struggles. About the terrible war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine, about the suffering and destruction that the war has brought to our country,” said Sergei Palkin, Shakhtar chief, for whom Czech footballers Jan Laštůvka and Tomáš Hübschman.
Tomáš Hübschman in the Shakhtar Donetsk jersey during the match in Pilsen.Photo: Vlastimil VacekRight
The 13-time Ukrainian UEFA Cup champion and winner in 2009 has not played a competitive match since mid-December. After the winter break, Shakhtar was to start the spring part of the domestic league on February 26, but two days before the match against Metalist Kharkov, Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine and football stopped in the country.
Shakhtar is a traditional supplier of players for the Ukrainian national team, which two weeks ago could not play the semifinals of the playoffs to advance to the World Cup against Scotland due to the war. FIFA postponed the match until June.
At the same time, the World Federation adjusted the rules for the time of the war and allowed players from Ukrainian clubs to transfer outside the specified period. From Shakhtar, the Brazilian Teté left for Lyon and the naturalized Ukrainian Júnior Moraes returned to his native Brazil to the Corinthians.
