There was only one position in the Champions League knockout stage remaining to be decided on Wednesday, but that didn’t mean there was a lack of drama, as Olympique Lyonnais needed to come from behind to draw Shakhtar Donetsk and earn their way into the final 16.
Lyon used a 65th minute goal by Nabil Fekir to claw back a 1-1 draw in Ukraine, doing enough to hold off their opponents for the second place position in Group F.
Shakhtar Playing in Exile
Heading into the match, Lyon had a two-point lead over Shakhtar in the group, meaning that the Ukrainian side would need to win at home in order to leap over their French opponents and go through to the next stage of the competition.
In fact, Shakhtar didn’t even get a true home game. The team hasn’t played in the city of Donetsk for the past four years, even since pro-Russian separatists formed the Donetsk People’s Republic in the early days of the War in Donbass. Shakhtar had played for two years in Lviv – all the way on the other side of Ukraine – before moving to Kharkiv for the past two years, which is still about 185 miles from Donetsk.
In late November, the Ukrainian government declared martial law in eastern parts of the country, forcing Wednesday’s match to be moved to Kiev instead.
Shakhtar head coach Paulo Fonseca urged supporters to come to Kiev to support the team in the critical match, but fans have said having their team playing in cities across the country has been difficult.
“It’s very hard for a club to play in an alien city,†a Shakhtar supporter named Ruslan told AFP Sport. “The team, of course, lacks all those fans.â€
Nonetheless, Shakhtar looked like they might pull off the upset early, scoring in the 22nd minute on a goal by Junior Moraes. But while they held that lead for more than 40 minutes, it was Lyon that looked more dangerous, and the French side eventually got the breakthrough they needed. The result means that Lyon has still never lost to a Ukrainian side in six Champions League encounters.
Third Place Finishers Head to Europa League
While the loss must be disappointing for Shakhtar, their European ambitions aren’t entirely over. They will be slotted into the round of 32 in the Europa League, the second-tier continental competition. So will all of the teams that finished third in their Champions League groups, including powerhouses like Inter Milan, Napoli, Benfica, and Valencia.
The remaining 16 teams in the Champions League will now move into two-leg knockout matches, which will begin in February. The draw for the first round will be held on Dec. 17, with group winners being drawn from one pot to face group runner-ups chosen randomly from a second pot. England has the most remaining teams with four, while Spain and Germany each boast three clubs still in the competition.
The only English side to win their group was Manchester City, which William Hill has listed as the 3/1 favorite to win the Champions League title. Other favorites include Barcelona (9/2), Juventus (11/2), PSG (7/1), and Liverpool (9/1).