Gladkyy expects test

Posted Thursday, September 17, 2009 by PA

Striker Oleksandr Gladkyy is confident Shakhtar Donetsk will demonstrate their calibre as European champions when they travel to Club Brugge of Belgium in Group J of the Europa League.

Shakhtar became the first team from Ukraine to lift a European trophy since the break-up of the Soviet Union when they beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in Istanbul in the last UEFA Cup final in May.

Now they are determined to become the first winners of European football's new-look tournament.

Gladkyy said: "It will be a hard game. But our goal is to get as many points as possible in the first three matches. If Shakhtar show the way we can play we will win."

It is the fourth time Shakhtar have played Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel stadium, the previous games ending in a defeat in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1995 and two draws in third round Champions League qualifying matches in 2002 and 2004.

Gladkyy said: "We will have to change these traditions, but these matches were a long time ago. Today Club Brugge are a good team who use wingers. They have got a very good forward in (Wesley) Sonck. He is the best striker. But we have seen Brugge play and Shakhtar are much higher. If we play our game we will get a result."

Shakhtar, who lie second behind Dynamo Kiev in their domestic league after winning four and drawing one of their first five matches this season, beat Tottenham on the way to their UEFA Cup triumph last season and took Barcelona to extra-time in Monaco before losing out in the Super Cup.

Since then, however, the Ukrainians have lost influential defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy, who signed for Barcelona after that Super Cup match.

Club Brugge coach Adrie Koster, who replaced Jacky Mathijssen in April, is looking forward to getting started in a group which also includes Serbia's FK Partizan and Toulouse of France.

"Shakhtar won the UEFA Cup so it's a difficult group," said Koster. "But we certainly have a chance."