Fuente : UEFA
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Football Europe: Shakhtar shaping up for success

/noticias.info/ The only side to spoil FC Dynamo Kyiv's utter domination of the Ukrainian Premier League in the past 12 seasons was FC Shakhtar Donetsk when they lifted the 2001/02 title - and Mircea Lucescu's team could be set to repeat the feat this year.

European ambition
With eight games to go, leaders Shakhtar and second-placed Dynamo are virtually assured of UEFA Champions League football next season - with the Kiev club 12 points clear of third-placed FC Metalurh Donetsk ahead of their meeting this weekend. Only a Metalurh victory would leave the chasing pack any realistic hopes of playing in Europe's premier club competition next season.

Bad patch
However, Dynamo struggled during April, dropping points in three successive matches, and now sit five behind Shakhtar having played a game more. After a 0-0 draw in the capital derby against FC Arsenal Kyiv, the eleven-times champions suffered a sensational 2-1 home defeat at the hands of struggling FC Metalurh Zaporizhya, then failed to find the net during their game with lowly FC Borysfen Boryspil.

Sabo pressure
Coach Joszef Szabo showed his frustration when he ran on to the pitch and remonstrated with the referee at one point, and has now been given a three-match touchline ban. He was in the dugout for the team's 1-0 win against FC Vorskla Poltava last weekend, however, and the pressure could now be on former national team coach Leonid Buryak, unexpectedly appointed as sports director recently, to build on that victory.

Dnipro await
Shakhtar have squandered more significant advantages on the home straight in the past, but the team are flying this season with a league-best 46 goals scored in 21 matches so far. A league and Ukrainian Cup double is still on the cards, although Shakhtar must first overcome FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk in a two-legged semi-final, the winner of which will meet Dynamo or FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih in the showpiece.

Chasing pack
Just reaching the final would almost certainly be enough for Dnipro or Kryvbas to secure UEFA Cup football next season - although a Ukrainian Cup final between the top two would open up the league's fourth place as a passport to Europe. But with Metalurh (40 points), FC Volyn Lutsk (38), FC Chornomorets Odesa (37) and Dnipro (34 points and with a game in hand) all in contention, the race is sure to go down to the wire. notas_de_prensa_archivo