'They're the toughest team we will face so far this year': Stephen Bradley on Shakhtar task
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley knows the task ahead will be difficult. Pic: Dan Clohessy/Inpho
Brazilian brilliance will enlighten a winter’s night at Tallaght but Shakhtar Donetsk’s first-ever match in Ireland will also highlight the uglier side of the game.
Russia's invasion of the eastern Donbas region in Ukraine three years ago caused death, displacement but also the demise of a beloved football club.
For the past decade, their 52,187-seater Donbas Arena, constructed at a cost €400m, lies dormant and derelict. Switching from their locality to the western city Lviv has triggered a 95% plummet in attendances from 43,475 to 2,617.
Against the political backdrop, their financial model is one of the only constants remaining.
The club which sold Fred, Fernandinho and Willian to the English Premier League in their pomp continues to house the largest Brazilian contingent of any team left in the three European competitions.
An expected crowd of 9,000 will be rooting for Shamrock Rovers to win their first game of those phase at the fourth but they’ll also be wondering if among Marlon, Pedrinho, Newerton, Lucas Ferreira and Eguinaldo, they’ll view a Brazilian capable of illuminating the World Cup next summer.
Arda Turan has been in charge since the start of the season, taking control of a team holding the domestic Cup rather than title. Like Rovers, they’d relinquished their stranglehold but are on their way to restoring order by topping the table. They warmed up for this assignment by sweeping past Obolon Kyiv 6-0 on Saturday.
Turan bemoaned the 16-hour trip it took to Dublin, only to contextualise the gripe by contrasting their plight with that of the Kyiv population withstanding what’s effectively a warzone.
His counterpart Stephen Bradley acknowledged Shakhtar represents their most difficult of six European tests.
That’s saying something after they curtailed a losing run against Sparta Prague (1-4) and Celje (0-2) by holding AEK Athens the last time. It took a stoppage-time penalty from Real Madrid’s one-time €60m purchase Luka Jović for the Greeks to pinch a point at home.
Shakhtar are arguably above this level, having reached the Champions league phase in each of the past eight seasons.
“They're definitely the toughest team we will face so far this year," admitted the Rovers boss Bradley, noting his team are out of season, without a game since their FAI Cup final win 16 days ago.
"Shakhtar have threats all over the pitch, so can hurt you in different ways. They have a brilliant pedigree in Europe throughout the years but this is why we want to play at this level.”
Danny Mandroiu was stretchered off in that final and Bradley’s worst fears were realised with confirmation of an ACL rupture.
“Danny will miss several months but will get back. It was important to give our players time off after an extremely hectic two months. We were basically living together for a period of time.”
Thursday, 8pm – Premier Sports.
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