Shakhtar Donetsk-Celtic: Ding Ding

By: JT | September 18th, 2007

No one says it better than Apollo Creed. In a Champions League group that is full of matchups with old adversaries, its appropriate to recall that great scene at the end of Rocky III.

The more I look at Shakhtar Donetsk, the more intrigued I am by them. Six Brazilians, a Mexican, an Italian and some Ukrainians sprinkled in to add some local flavor. The club is run by Rinat Akhmetov, whose Wikipedia entry lists his occupation as “business oligarch”. Wow, that’s a generous way of putting it. Sort of like saying Tony Soprano is a “waste management magnate”.

But all I’m concerned about is the football, and The Miners are looking a whole lot better than a Pot 4 team at the moment. After nine matches, they sit at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League, with eight wins and only one draw. They’ve scored 21 and only conceded five. This is a team who took an awesome Sevilla side down to the wire in the UEFA Cup this spring, and has since replenished the squad to the tune of £40m.

The Moles are a quick, athletic team who are spearheaded by newboys Cristiano Lucarelli and the unibrowed wonder Nery Castillo in attack. The other danger man is Croatian right back Darijo Srna, whose crosses and free kicks are the stuff of Balkan folklore.

For the Celts, there really is no drama in terms of squad selection, other than the role that Paul Hartley will play. In the away leg of the tie with Spartak Moskva, Hartley was a surprise inclusion in the midfield, and he was fantastic. He tends to leave the fullbacks a little less exposed than Aiden McGeady does, and there is really no doubt that Shakhtar will be targeting Lee Naylor and Mark Wilson. Hartley played well for Scotland against France last weekend, but hasn’t featured for Celtic since that Spartak match. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him on the team sheet.

Here’s what I expect from WGS:

____________Boruc______________
Wilson–Kennedy–McManus–Naylor
Nakamura–Donati–Brown–Hartley
_______McDonald–JVoH_________

I’m hoping that Celtic will not be as cautious as they were when they played at Spartak, but that was due in large part to Hartley’s early goal and the nature of a two-legged tie. This Bhoys team is far better when they are attacking, and have the athleticism to go forward on the road too.

Everyone loves to talk about how Celtic haven’t won on their European travels since the Stone Age, and there will never be a better opportunity to make that stat a distant memory. This fixture is very winnable, and if the Hoops harbor any dreams of making it to the knockout stages again, they must get points here, and preferably three.

As the eternal optimist, I’ll say Celtic 2-1. Scott Brown gets one in the first half, and Jan the Man wins it late from a Nakamura corner against the run of play.

See you at the pub!