The elimination of Villarreal at the hands of Liverpool has brought with it good news for Ukrainian football currently paralyzed as a result of the Russian invasion. Shakhtar Donetsk will participate directly in the group stage of the next edition of the Champions League without having to play the previous phase.
read also
Thiago, to by the record of Seedorf
10 wins and 30 goals for Liverpool to reach the final
Shakhtar will occupy one of the 26 places with direct access to the Champions League that became vacant with Liverpool’s qualification. It is the one that UEFA reserves for the champion of the current edition of the tournament, but both the ‘reds’, as well as Manchester City and Real Madrid, the other two contenders to win the title in the Saint-Denis final on May 28, already have secured their participation through their respective leagues.
Real Madrid was proclaimed champion of LaLiga on Saturday and City and Liverpool, first and second in the Premier League, are 22 and 21 points ahead of Tottenham fifth, respectively, four games from the end.
The Ukrainian Premier, terminated
The Ukrainian Premier was terminated on April 26 as it could not be resumed after the winter break due to the invasion and, although it left the champion title void, the Federation decided to award the two Champions League places to Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo kyiv, leader and second placed when the championship was stopped in December.
Direct access to the group stage of the Champions League will mean an important economic injection for Shakhtar in the delicate situation that it is going through due to the war. In the 2019-20 season, he entered 43.1 million euros for his participation in the tournament.
Shakhtar, like Dinamo kyiv, has been touring Europe in recent weeks playing friendly charity matches for refugees.
Exclusion of Russian clubs favors Scotland
Shakhtar have also benefited from UEFA’s decision on Monday to exclude Russian clubs from its competitions next season.
Russia is in eighth place in the organization’s ranking of countries and the Scottish champion (11th), Celtic or Rangers, will take their place in the group stage of the Champions League. Ukraine, next in the table at 12th place, benefited from Liverpool’s qualification on Tuesday.
