Duljaj enjoys Ukrainian high
Friday 17 April 2009
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Through to the UEFA Cup semi-finals for the first time in their history after completing a 4-1 aggregate victory over Olympique de Marseille on Thursday, FC Shakhtar Donetsk could not be facing more reassuringly familiar opponents as they launch themselves into the unknown. FC Dynamo Kyiv are next up for the Pitmen and midfielder Igor Duljaj does not need anyone to tell him what that implies.
Clinical finishing
Dynamo booked their own place by seeing off Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-0 in Ukraine following a goalless first leg and they were duly joined by Mircea Lucescu's men courtesy of a 2-1 win at the Stade Vélodrome, allied with last week's 2-0 triumph at the RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium. The Kiev side's massive 15-point Premier League lead suggests they are by far the stronger side, but Shakhtar have recovered well after a poor start to their title defence and demonstrated both stout resistance and clinical finishing in southern France, Fernandinho scoring against the run of play on 30 minutes and Luiz Adriano striking at the death after Hatem Ben Arfa's 43rd-minute effort for the hosts.
Four games
"It's going to be very difficult against Dynamo," said Duljaj. "We also play them in the Ukrainian Cup semi-finals on Wednesday and in a few weeks we've got them in the league. It's going to be a tough series of matches for us. Dynamo have done a great job in the championship and have a very good team, but already this season we've beaten them 1-0 at home and we have a big chance of going to the final. It's a chance for revenge. Last year we were champions and this year it's going to be them. Our job now is to try to win all four of these games. It'll be hard but everything is possible."
Zenit example
The Serbian hopes to feature in next week's Ukrainian Cup encounter after injury forced him off against Marseille at the end of the first half and he argued that both Premier League teams "are giving Ukrainian football a great image". "People are talking about us right now in the same way they were talking about Zenit last year," he added, perhaps mindful that the Russian outfit counted Marseille among their victims on their way to lifting the UEFA Cup trophy in Manchester.
Flattering scoreline
Last year's winners did nowhere near as well as Shakhtar at the Vélodrome either, suffering a 3-1 loss before advancing on away goals, but Duljaj admitted that the 2-1 scoreline flattered his team. "We didn't play as well against Marseille as we did in Donetsk," explained the 29-year-old. "They're a very good team, they had a lot of chances and they started well in both halves. What's important is that we're through to the next round. They didn't score when they had their chances early on and although we only had one chance in the first half, we finished it. We punished them, but the main part of our job was done in Donetsk."
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