Fifth title in a row
Friday, May 22, 2020
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While football is on hiatus, we have been recalling all of Shakhtar's title-winning seasons
In the 2013/14 season, the Miners won the league title, their 5th consecutive one. This set of gold medals was the last one in Ukraine for Mircea Lucescu.
The 2013/14 gold medals were the last ones in Ukraine for Mircea Lucescu
New leaders
In the summer of 2013, Shakhtar held perhaps the biggest transfer campaign in its history. Fernandinho joined Manchester City for EUR 40 million, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved to Borussia Dortmund. For the earned proceeds, they signed up the talented Brazilians Bernard, Fred, Fernando, Wellington Nem, along with the Argentine striker Facundo Ferreyra.
In the summer of 2013, Shakhtar held perhaps the biggest transfer campaign in its history. Fernandinho joined Manchester City for EUR 40 million, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved to Borussia Dortmund. For the earned proceeds, they signed up the talented Brazilians Bernard, Fred, Fernando, Wellington Nem, along with the Argentine striker Facundo Ferreyra.
In his Ukrainian Super Cup debut, Fred scored 2 goals vs Chornomorets Odesa (3-1) and helped Shakhtar secure the first trophy that season
Competing on two fronts
Mircea Lucescu’s priority was to reform the team after the departure of the leaders, as well as the quick integration of newcomers into the Miners’ playing system. And there were no particular problems with that: for example, in his Ukrainian Super Cup debut, Fred scored 2 goals vs Chornomorets Odesa (3-1) and helped Shakhtar secure the first trophy that season.
The beginning of the Championship was also successful. Shakhtar won 6 starting meetings, including the 4th round home encounter with Dynamo (3-1). Only after the players focussed on their Champions League performance, they lost some points in the games vs their major competitors that season - Dnipro and Metalist. Until the end of the first stage, the Kharkiv side were topping the standings, but in the 16th round the Miners regained their leadership and did not lose it until the very end of the league season.
Key victories
The spring of 2014 turned out to be one of the most interesting ones in Ukrainian football. 4 teams competed for medals, with each match within this quartet being doubly important. Shakhtar claimed the key victories away: in the goals galore in Kharkiv, they defeated Metalist (4-2), later leaving Dynamo with no chance in Kyiv (2-0).
Mircea Lucescu’s priority was to reform the team after the departure of the leaders, as well as the quick integration of newcomers into the Miners’ playing system. And there were no particular problems with that: for example, in his Ukrainian Super Cup debut, Fred scored 2 goals vs Chornomorets Odesa (3-1) and helped Shakhtar secure the first trophy that season.
The beginning of the Championship was also successful. Shakhtar won 6 starting meetings, including the 4th round home encounter with Dynamo (3-1). Only after the players focussed on their Champions League performance, they lost some points in the games vs their major competitors that season - Dnipro and Metalist. Until the end of the first stage, the Kharkiv side were topping the standings, but in the 16th round the Miners regained their leadership and did not lose it until the very end of the league season.
Key victories
The spring of 2014 turned out to be one of the most interesting ones in Ukrainian football. 4 teams competed for medals, with each match within this quartet being doubly important. Shakhtar claimed the key victories away: in the goals galore in Kharkiv, they defeated Metalist (4-2), later leaving Dynamo with no chance in Kyiv (2-0).
In Kyiv, Shakhtar left Dynamo with no chance (2-0)
In the closing rounds, due to the military conflict in Donbas, the Miners could no longer host their opponents in the home city of Donetsk, but this did not stop Mircea Lucescu’s men from making a final spurt of 6 wins, securing the final advantage of 6 points over the second-spot team and celebrating the 9th championship in the history of the club.
Heroes of the season
Luiz Adriano, who has long been accustomed to the role of the team’s main goalscorer, notched up 20 goals and was recognized as the Premier League top scorer. This is the Brazilian’s best result at Shakhtar. The best sub player Eduardo (9 goals) and Facundo Ferreyra (6 goals in 13 games of his debut season) actively helped him.
Heroes of the season
Luiz Adriano, who has long been accustomed to the role of the team’s main goalscorer, notched up 20 goals and was recognized as the Premier League top scorer. This is the Brazilian’s best result at Shakhtar. The best sub player Eduardo (9 goals) and Facundo Ferreyra (6 goals in 13 games of his debut season) actively helped him.
The league season’s top scorer Luiz Adriano (20 goals)
Traditionally, we also want to mention the assist providers. The right flank of the Orange-and-Blacks stood out in this regard: Darijo Srna and Douglas Costa each provided 10 assists to their teammates. The newcomer Bernard also tried hard not to fall behind (7 assists). That season, Alex Teixeira asserted himself (27 apps, 6 goals), with the young Fred being one of the league season’s major discoveries after being entrusted with making 23 appearances.
The Top UPL Goalkeeper is Andriy Pyatov (notwithstanding the fact that he made only 16 apps, with Anton Kanibolotskyi making 13 apps). The Coach of the Year was Mircea Lucescu again, spending his 10th season at Shakhtar.
The Top UPL Goalkeeper is Andriy Pyatov (notwithstanding the fact that he made only 16 apps, with Anton Kanibolotskyi making 13 apps). The Coach of the Year was Mircea Lucescu again, spending his 10th season at Shakhtar.
This is the toughest league season during my spell at Shakhtar. We’ve never worried that much, but everything worked out well!
Douglas Costa, Shakhtar midfielder in the 2013/14 season:
“This is probably the toughest league season during my spell at Shakhtar. We’ve never worried that much, but everything worked out well! For me personally, the current title is the most important and crucial. We had strong competitors who make every effort to defeat Shakhtar. And this only motivates us. We’ve deserved the title because we played consistently well, keeping our performance quality and overall level high.”
“This is probably the toughest league season during my spell at Shakhtar. We’ve never worried that much, but everything worked out well! For me personally, the current title is the most important and crucial. We had strong competitors who make every effort to defeat Shakhtar. And this only motivates us. We’ve deserved the title because we played consistently well, keeping our performance quality and overall level high.”
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