· NEW! - See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams!

Spurs record in Europe:-

European Cup
P   W   D   L   F - A
8   4   1   3  21 - 13

(Semi-Finalists 1962)

European Cup Winners Cup

P   W   D   L   F - A
33  20  5   8  65 - 34

(Winners 1963)

UEFA Cup
P   W   D   L   F - A
84 51  19  14  181-68 

(Winners 1972, 1984
 Finalists 1974)

Total
P    W   D   L   F - A
125 75  25  25  267-115

UEFA CUP Round Two Final Group D Table:-
		     P  W  D  L  F-A  PTS
1. Udinese           4  3  0  1  6-4   9
2. Spurs             4  2  1  1  7-4   7
3. NEC               4  2  0  2  6-5   6
4. Spartak  Moscow   4  1  1  2  5-6   4
5. Dinamo Zagreb     4  1  0  3  4-9   3

Shakhtar's record in Europe this season:-


(Qualifying round)
Shakhtar    2-0   Dinamo Zagreb
D. Zagreb   1-3   Shakhtar

Group C
FC Basel    1-2   Shakhtar
Shakhtar    1-2   Barcelona
Shakhtar    0-1   Sporting
Sporting    1-0   Shakhtar
Shakhtar    5-0   Basel
Barcelona   2-3   Shakhtar

Shakhtar even beat Barcelona in the Camp Nou stadium in the last match of the group, but the Catalonian side had already qualified as top of their group. Perhaps more significantly, Barcelona did beat the Ukrainians on their patch in October. You might recall that another of our opponents this season, Wisla Krakow, also beat Barcelona in one of their matches, but lost their Champions' League qualifier 4-1 on aggregate.

Shakhtar very conveniently have an English version of their official website, where plenty of useful information - historical and current - is available. They currently play in the RSC Olympiyski Stadium, with a capacity of 25,678. Their best gate of the season (25,300) was against Barcelona, and a big crowd can be expected for their first game after their winter break, although not too many Spurs fans are making the lengthy and expensive trip.

Shakhtar qualified for the Champions League as Champions last season, which they have achieved 4 times in recent years. When they don't win they usually finish runners-up, so their current league position of fifth, 12 points behind the league leaders, is not hopeful with 13 league games remaining. Shakhtar have had an enforced winter break since they played Barcelona on 9th December, and they have not played in their league since 30th November. Whether this factor will be of benefit to Spurs remains to be seen. Last year they won their first game after the break 5-0, so perhaps it is irrelevant!

There is a team called Arsenal in the Ukrainian Premier League, whose full name is Arsenal Kiev. Shakhtar drew their away game with this team 0-0, and we drew with our Arsenal 0-0 in our last game!

Every team we meet in Europe seems to have a Brazilian or two in their squad, and Shakhtar are no exceptions. One of their former Brazilians is Elano, currently at Manchester City. Shakhtar have scored just 25 league goals, and their top league scorer - Brandao - transferred to Marseille in January. There is another Manchester City connection with Shakhtar's Mexican International Castillo. He spent a little while on loan at Eastlands, but will not be available for our game because of an injury sustained whilst recently playing for his country. Our own Giovani Dos Santos played in the same game against the USA.

The truth is that Shakhtar Donetsk seem to have goals scored by many of their players. They will clearly be formidable opposition.

Spurs will have to persevere with enforced absences such as the Cup-tied Pavlyuchenko, and Vedran Corluka. I understand that Robbie Keane was signed 15 minutes too late to be registered for the UEFA Cup. With Defoe's injury, Darren Bent will therefore have a chance to back up his reported discontent with a performance worthy of note. Luka Modric will no doubt play his familiar "in the hole" position. Spurs now have the personnel at the back and in midfield to gain a draw on hostile territory, and I have a feeling that is just what they will do.

I am one of those supporters giving this game a swerve (first game missed this season), and will report from a TV perspective on Thursday night.