Nine years under Lucescu

Today, 22 May, marks exactly nine years since Shakhtar’s first match under head coach Mircea Lucescu.

At RSC Olimpiyskiy, the Pitmen entertained Karpaty, led by Miron Makrevych, in the Ukrainian championship. Shakhtar won 5-0 thanks to goals from Razvan Rat, Andriy Vorobey (brace), Ciprian Marica and Zvonimir Vukic.

Andriy Vorobey shares his memories about the first game.

"As far as I remember, I scored two goals in that match. (Laughs.) By and large, Mister was not in charge of our game, which was understandable. Viktor Prokopenko perfectly knew the team, gave instructions, and Mircea Lucescu was just watching, so to speak, from inside. I remember that he was in a good mood; he was smiling although he did not really communicate with anyone."

And some statistics. Under Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar played 432 games in all competitions, winning 303, drawing 66 and losing 63. The Pitmen scored 888 goals, conceding 331. By the way, today’s game with Chornomorets will be Shakhtar’s first official game on 22 May since that game with the Lviv side.