Shakhtar Donetsk is the Ukrainian soccer champion and thus qualifies directly for the Champions League. Strict safety rules applied in league operations.
The team of Croatian coach Igor Jovicevic won in Lviv in a game that ended up being turbulent against pursuers SK Dnipro-1 3-0 (1-0). One game day before the end of the season, Shakhtar has an eight-point lead over Dnipro and third-placed Sorya Luhansk and can no longer be relegated from first place.
Artem Bondarenko (9th minute), Danylo Sikan (55th) and Taras Stepanenko (59th) scored the goals for the hosts. In added time, Shakhtar players Jehor Nasarina and Anatoli Trubin (90′ + 6′) as well as Dnipro Peglov (90′ + 6′) and Vitaly Fedorov (90′ + 8′) were each red after a scuffle.
Strict safety rules in league operations
The league started playing on August 23, 2022 despite the Russian war in Ukraine. All games took place without spectators for safety reasons. Strict safety rules also applied to the teams: In the event of an air raid, games had to be stopped immediately, and everyone involved then had to go to the shelter, which according to the concept had to be in the immediate vicinity of the stadium. If it is not possible to restart the game, the result at the time of the alarm would be included in the score.
With the title, Donetsk qualified again for the Champions League. There, the Ukrainians always have to play their away games away from home. Not only since the Russian attack in February 2022 has the club been significantly influenced by the war.
Shakhtar Donetsk has not played a home game in its own Donbass Arena since 2014. The region in the east of the country has been fiercely contested for nine years. The very modern Donbass Arena, which was built for EURO 2012, was also badly damaged by the fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian armed forces. In the course of the war that had broken out in the East, the team initially moved to Kiev.
Shakhtar then played his home games in the Ukrainian capital as well as in Kharkiv and Lemberg. The international home games in the current season, such as the 1-1 victory against Real Madrid last October in the Champions Leaguetake place even outside of Ukraine, in Warsaw.
