Shakhtar events 2020. Part 2
Thursday, December 31, 2020
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We conclude the year 2020 with Part Two featuring major events in Shakhtar’s life
Champions’ records
In the 2019/20 Premier League, the Miners scored 82 points. Luis Castro's men won gold medals enjoying the biggest lead over the second spot in the Ukrainian league history - 23 points. Shakhtar beat Dynamo's record of the 18 points lead that had lasted for 20 years since the 1999/2000 season. As for the history of the Donetsk club itself, the maximum lead over the silver medalists was previously 13 points - over Metalist in 2013 and over Dynamo in 2017.
This is Shakhtar's 13th league title and 9th early one. The Miners produced a streak of four consecutive UPL triumphs (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). Plus this championship is the earliest for the Orange-and-Blacks as it was secured five rounds before the season end. Previously, the team got out of reach of their competitors four rounds from the season end on two occasions (in 2013 and 2017).
Stepanenko’s milestone
Shakhtar vice-captain Taras Stepanenko passed the the mark of 300 appearances for the club. The February game vs Desna became his milestone one. Stepanenko is the 19th Shakhtar footballer to have reached this figure. He finished the year with 326 apps and got level with Anatolii Tymoshchuk and Yaroslav Rakytskyy in this context. To enter the top 10 in the history of the club, Taras has to make seven more appearances.
104 goals in a season
In the 2019/20 season, the Orange-and-Blacks scored 104 goals in all competitions: 80 in the league, one in the Ukrainian Cup and Super Cup, eight in the Champions League and 14 in the Europa League. Before that, Shakhtar had not overcome the 100-goal target for three years in a row (99, 99, 94). To score 104 goals, the team needed 46 matches (average scoring performance is 2.26). They set a record in the 2015/16 season - 129 goals in 53 games (2.43).
In the first year of Luis Castro's tenure, Shakhtar reached the Europa League semi-finals. The team entered this tournament from the Champions League, finishing third in their group including Manchester City, Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb. In the UEL Round of 32, the draw brought the coaching staff the meeting with a club from Portugal. Shakhtar beat Benfica on aggregate (2-1, 3-3), knocking Wolfsburg out of the competition in the following round (2-1, 3-0), the two legs vs the Germans were divided by a break of almost five months due to coronavirus.
Due to the protracted season and the difficult epidemiological situation in the world, the decisive stages of the Europa League were played as single knockout games in German cities. In the quarterfinals, the Miners claimed a major win over the Swiss Basel (4-1), then suffering a major defeat at the hands of Inter (0-5). For Shakhtar, it was the third semi-final in the Europa League (UEFA Cup) over 12 years. In this round, the Orange-and-Blacks faced Dynamo Kyiv in 2009 (later winning the trophy in the match against Werder Bremen) and Sevilla in 2016.
UCL: wins over Real Madrid, draws vs Inter, 8 points
In the new season which started for the Miners immediately after the previous one without any break, the team performed well in the Champions League again. The group featuring Real Madrid, Shakhtar, Inter and Borussia Monchengladbach looked the strongest and most even in the competition. This was confirmed in reality by the fact that in the last round each side had a chance of advancing to the knockout phase.
Shakhtar had outstanding matches vs Real Madrid and beat them twice: 3-2 in Spain and 2-0 in Ukraine. Having made the necessary error analysis after the Europa League defeat, Luis Castro's team scored two points after tying 0-0 both in Kyiv and in Milan. Thus, the Orange-and-Blacks claimed the 3rd spot with eight points and secured their UEL spring campaign. Their Round of 32 opponents in the Europa League are Maccabi Tel Aviv.
At the end of the calendar year, the fans have traditionally picked the best Shakhtar player. The poll was conducted on messengers and social networks, with a total of 12,383 users taking part in it. Goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin was named the Player of the Year, being supported by 3,981 poll participants and beating Tete (3,314) and Manor Solomon (3,270).
