On Thursday, May 7, Shakhtar Donetsk, who lost to Crystal Palace in Krakow (1:3), played the second leg of the Conference League semi-final against the winner of the English Cup and Super Cup at Selhurst Park in London and, unfortunately, ended their fight for the trophy.
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Conference League. Semi-finals. Second leg
Crystal Palace (England) — Shakhtar (Ukraine) — 2:1
Shakhtar: Riznik, Vinicius (Gran, 27), Bondar, Matvienko, Pedro Enrique, Ocheretko (Neverton, 56), Marlon Gomez, Pedrino (Ferreira, 75), Alisson (Izaqui, 46), Eguinaldo, Elias (Traore, 56).
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Goals: Pedro Enrique (25, on goal), Sarr (52) — Eguinaldo (34).
Six previous unsuccessful attempts to recover from a two-goal defeat in their first European Cup match seemed to leave Shakhtar with no chance of salvation. But Arda Turan and his team believed that they could create a small miracle in Albion and reach the European Cup final for the first time in 17 years (in 2009, the Donetsk team beat Werder Bremen in overtime in the decisive match of the UEFA Cup – 2:1).
The guests started more actively, but conceded in the 10th minute. Fortunately, Spanish referee Hernandez used VAR to disallow Riznyk's goal due to offside.
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But in the 25th minute, Crystal Palace finally got their way. The butcher parried Wharton's shot, but the Miners' defender Pedro Enrique, after finishing off Munoz, put the ball into his own net – 1-0 in the London match and 4-1 on aggregate.
Shakhtar, which is very important, did not give up, and in the 34th minute, Eguinaldo skillfully played one goal back – 1:1.
After the break, Shakhtar again began to look for chances at the English goal. But almost every quick attack by Crystal Palace was a disaster for the Donetsk defense. In the 52nd minute, Senegalese Sarr confirmed the score – 2:1.
Shakhtar, who will most likely start the next season in the main round of the Champions League, failed to revive the intrigue once again. But, you must admit, they did not disgrace the honor of the club and the country in the 2025/2026 competition.
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In the Conference League final, Crystal Palace will play against Spanish Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, on May 27, after defeating French Strasbourg on aggregate (1:0 at home, 1:0 away).
By the way, in the decisive match of the Europa League on May 20 at the Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, the German Freiburg (which beat the Portuguese Braga – 1:2, 3:1) and the English Aston Villa (which knocked out another Premier League representative, Nottingham Forest – 0:1, 4:0) will face each other.
Previously, “FACTS” reported that the English “Arsenal” and the French “PSG” will play in the Champions League final on May 30 in Budapest.
Photo of FC Shakhtar