UEFA Cup - Shakhtar target Champions League

Eurosport - Thu, 21 May 10:53:00 2009

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu said his team's triumph in the last UEFA Cup was testament to the progress of Eastern European sides and set his sights on Champions League success.

Srna Lucescu Fernandinho Shakhtar UEFA cup - 0

Brazilian Jadson scored in extra time to earn Shakhtar a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final, making them the first Ukrainian team to win a major European trophy since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

"I am happy that we continued the success of Ukrainian teams. I hope this result will give us more stamina and strength to prepare for the 2012 (European Championships)," Lucescu said.

"The team is very young and I hope no players will leave the team. We want to do well in the Champions League. I think we can do better than we did today," he said.

"I think the Champions League will be the future aim for these east European countries," he added.

Shakhtar were the third former Soviet club to win the UEFA Cup in five seasons following victories for CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit St Petersburg last year.

The UEFA Cup will become the Europa League next season, a revamped competition UEFA hopes will enhance the image and profile of European football's second-tier tournament.

Lucescu said he was also happy for his Brazilian players, among whom Brazilian Luiz Adriano had put Shakhtar ahead with a neat finish after 25 minutes.

His compatriot Naldo equalised before halftime after keeper Andriy Pyatov fumbled his well-struck free kick into the net.

"I believe we managed to seize control of the game in the first half. Unfortunately the goalkeeper made a mistake and we lost control," he said.

It was a triumphant return to Istanbul for Lucescu where he coached arch rivals Besiktas and Galatasaray before joining Shakhtar in 2004.

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf lamented his side's failure to put more pressure on their opponents.

"We were just not fast enough and we were not effective enough and we were not able to put pressure on the opponent," he said.

"We weren't able to attack as much as we usually do. Our ball control wasn't as good. Particularly in midfield, we weren't able to target the opponent's goal that well," he said.

"We have to build on this experience and try to get the team going again. We need to give them time to recover," he added.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

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  1. Bravo Lucescu, Bravo Ucraina, Bravo Romania, Bravo­ Brazilia, Bravo Croatia, Bravo Polonia, Bravo Serbia

    From Florian, on Thu 21 May 2:08PM

  2. Bravo Lucescu, Bravo Ucraina, Bravo Romania, Bravo­ Brazilia, Bravo Croatia, Bravo Polonia, Bravo Serbia

    From Florian, on Thu 21 May 2:06PM

  3. Gizmo1 why would i be an Arsenal fan when i make the­ point that the number of teams qualifying for Champions­ league should be REDUCED!? that is the only way Arsenal­ still get in!
    It'll never go back to just being a­ Champions trophy due to the money invloved but making­ teams like Arsenal, Roma, Villareal etc. all go into­ Uefa would improve this and bring back interest into­ Champs league.
    After all if this was the case Liverpool­ would of been in Uefa this season.

    From james b, on Thu 21 May 12:34PM

  4. i think they can get into the knockout stage but! thats­ as far as they will go because its harder in campions­ league than other eurpean stages

    From Ademola, on Thu 21 May 11:01AM

  5. ...and being a knockout competition from the start­ would remove any temptation clubs had of fieding­ weakend teams and resting top players - another reason­ the UEFA cup has been demeaned in recent years. Spurs­ and Villa are a case in point. Both rested teams and­ both fell flat on their faces. Result = Spurs not in­ Europe at all nxt season and Villa - as result of­ focusing on league, then blew it and were overtaken by­ Arsenal and Everton. Lesson - treat the UEFA cup­ serriously and with respect and you are likely to be­ rewarded, treat it with contempt and you'll get­ what you deserve - nothing. Why work @#$%e season to­ get into Europe only to treat it lightly the nxt -­ what's the friggin point? may as well not bother at­ all.

    From Gizmo1, on Thu 21 May 10:52AM

  6. james - it's only ignorant, close minded people­ like you that's the reason the UEFA Cup has been­ demeaned so much... bet your're an Arsenal fan.­ I'd go one further than you and not only scrap 3rd­ and 4th place for CL but also the whole league format­ and return the competition to a classic cup knockout­ competiton it always was, and I'd do the same with­ the UEFA-Europa cup as well, maybe then the prestige­ will fully return. The European Cup sounds alot more­ glamourous than the Champions League. Too many club­ matches is exactly reason why top player always­ underperform nowadays in the Euro's and WC.

    From Gizmo1, on Thu 21 May 10:46AM

  7. Champions League? you mean that competition that both­ Shaktar and Werder went out of in the group stages? no­ wonder people think the uefa is rubbish both finalists­ didn't even start out in the competition! A losers­ cup if there ever was one.
    Someone needs to reduce the­ number of teams from each country in CL and abolish the­ 3rd place team from going into the Uefa cup, then we­ will see an improvemnt in both trophies.

    From james b, on Thu 21 May 10:25AM

  8. Why not CL? Shakhtar has beaten Barca this year, but­ they need a better gkeeper.

    From marino, on Thu 21 May 10:14AM

  9. good team with money behind them. hope them and other­ teams come and make a difference vecause the CL is as­ boring as the EPL now.

    From yip, on Thu 21 May 10:10AM

  10. CL???!!! is that not too much dream? i can see­ the Big teams Beating them By 6-7- or 8 -----0

    From ftsg, on Thu 21 May 9:51AM

  11. yassine@ You are obviously pretty ill for making that­ obscure comment. Why wouldn't they be good in the­ Champions League? They have excellent team, and they­ can play good football with virtually anybody.

    From Pukovnik, on Thu 21 May 9:09AM

  12. What a game!! Masterful displays of cheating, diving,­ play-acting and petulance from both sides.

    From ac.ely, on Thu 21 May 9:09AM

  13. it's very hard... they can pass the groups but­ then... although i'm romanian and I'm a fan of­ lucescu, I think they can't win cl

    From Marius, on Thu 21 May 9:02AM

  14. Doubt it!!

    From doubt.it.man, on Thu 21 May 9:02AM

  15. They won't get any far tho in the Champions­ League...

    From fodsdaoutsider, on Thu 21 May 8:50AM

  16. hahahaha, you make me laugh! champions league,­ hahahahaha! let me see how you'll get past­ liverpool manu chelsea arsenal barca real madrid juve­ inter and milan!

    From yassine, on Thu 21 May 8:42AM

  17. Excellently pointed out !

    From Octavian, on Thu 21 May 7:45AM
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