Shakhtar were forced to move from their home town of Donetsk in 2014 due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, a fact coach Marino Pušić references while talking to Amazon Prime: “It’s tough … facing all these challenges make you stronger … we are not complaining … we are fighters … we came here to play … so let’s play football … we had a short period to prepare ourselves … eight-and-a-half hours in the bus, then we travelled to here … every game is like an away game … we try to create a home feeling in Lviv but it’s far from a home feeling … we have to create it for ourselves … it has to come out of us … we want to show up and compete … it does not matter whether we play Arsenal or Barcelona … we have a pretty young squad … improving every day … that’s the pleasure of my job … our hotel was destroyed completely … it could have been us.”
Pušić is also asked about his time working with new Liverpool boss Arne Slot while at AZ Alkmaar. “We enjoyed a lot of success … he is an amazing manager … I am very happy for him and I have no doubts about it … he is ready for everything … his tactical ability and individual approaches are excellent.”
This fixture, as mentioned in the preamble, has been played on two previous occasions. Here’s what happened in 2010 …
… and this is how things panned out in those sepia-toned days when MBMs were still very much in their infancy and as rare as a Martin Keown double, so it’s a straight-up match report you’re getting for this one.
Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus return for Arsenal in the wake of their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling drop to the bench. Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber remain on the injured list. Should Kai Havertz score tonight, he’ll become the first player ever to score in eight consecutive games at the Emirates.
History strongly favours Arsenal tonight. The Gunners have twice before welcomed Shakhtar Donetsk to their manor; they’ve put the hurt on the Ukrainians on both occasions, 3-2 in 2000, 5-1 in 2010. Shakhtar have never won in England in seven attempts, avoiding defeat just the once, against a coasting Manchester City in 2019. Shakhtar haven’t scored in this season’s Champions League yet; Arsenal haven’t let one in yet. So all signs point to yes. But then few expected Bournemouth to turn Arsenal over last weekend, inflicting a first defeat of the season on Mikel Arteta’s side, so you never know. Kick-off at the Emirates is at 8pm BST. It’s on.