Europa League Final: Dnipro Victory Would Go Beyond the Football Pitch

Smoke infiltrated the air in Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy stadium. The players on the pitch were now barely visible. Moments earlier, Eugene Seleznyov had bore the weight of his marker to head home an historic winning goal for Dnipro in their Europa League semi-final clash with Napoli, causing flares to be lit amid raucous celebration.

That match was billed as a home tie for Dnipro, though it was played 243 miles from their own stadium in Dnipropetrovsk. With the east of Ukraine engulfed in civil war, Dnipro have been forced to play every single one of their European fixtures away from home.

Despite the uncertainty, they have made it to their first ever European final, where they will face Sevilla on Wednesday night (kick-off 7:45 BST). It’s an accomplishment made all the more remarkable when also taking into consideration the context in which it was achieved.

Ukrainian clubs as a general whole have been surprisingly successful in Europe this season. Shakhtar Donetsk made it through to the Champions League knockout stages despite having to play their home games in Lviv, almost as far away from Donetsk as it is possible to get whilst remaining within Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Dynamo Kiev reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, dispatching Everton along the way before falling to Fiorentina. It's worth noting, however, that Dynamo and Shakhtar are Ukrainian football’s traditional giants; both have won major European honours in the past. Dnipro have never come close.

The early signs were not particularly promising. Knocked out of the Champions League by Copenhagen at the qualification stage, they only progressed beyond Hajduk Split in the Europa League’s playoff round courtesy of an 88th-minute winner from homegrown midfielder Eugene Shakhov.

They then failed to score in their first three group-stage fixtures, even losing to Azerbaijani club Qarabag, before eventually qualifying for the knockout rounds with a 1-0 win over Saint Etienne in Kiev. Since then, they have not looked back.

A 4-2 aggregate win over Greek champions Olympiakos was followed up by an away goals win over Ajax. It was then that flickers of belief began to shine through, suggesting that maybe this was to be Dnipro’s special year.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

In the Amsterdam Arena, they showcased the qualities that have defined their Europa League campaign. They congested the space between midfield and defence, with their central midfielders sitting directly in front of the back four, while wingers Yevhen Konoplyanka and Valeriy Luchkevych worked up and down the flanks as key counterattacking threats.

Ajax, for all their possession, found it extremely difficult to break Dnipro down, and Italian giants Napoli had the exact same issues when they met the Ukrainians in the semi-finals, where they spent 180 minutes banging their proverbial head against a brick wall.

Rafa Benitez’s men had 70 and 63 per cent of possession in the first and second leg, respectively, yet only managed to penetrate the Dnipro defence once. Again, Dnipro defended doggedly, pressed and counterattacked, and, again, they won through.

Their collective organisation has, time after time, trumped the greater financial muscle and individual talent of their opponents. But that doesn’t mean to say they are lacking in ability or charisma.

Goalkeeper Denis Boyko has proven himself an imperious shot-stopper; Douglas marshals the defence with an authoritative air; central midfielder Jaba Kankava is, in the words of club captain Ruslan Rotan, “a monster,” while Seleznyov’s goals have been crucial. And then there is Konoplyanka.

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the dissipation of the Soviet Union into multiple separate states, the best players from Ukraine have often made their way to Western Europe. Eastern European clubs have become selling clubs and, for several years, Konoplyanka seemed to be next on the production line.

He has been heavily linked with clubs such as Liverpool in the past, though Dnipro have stoutly refused to sell the jewel in their crown. Now 25, Konoplyanka is an exception to the rule, remaining with the club whose youth academy he came through, repaying them with loyalty and artistry.

Eastern European teams tend to be seen as functional sides punctuated by the occasional bit of South American trickery. For Dnipro, however, it is Konoplyanka who provides the flair. It was his cutting infield run and curling finish that sent out Ajax, and it was his delicate lofted cross that set up Seleznyov’s winner against Napoli.

He will be a marked man in the Europa League final, a match that looks set to be his swansong with the club, though Dnipro’s success comes not from one man, but from a solid, cohesive unit whose motivations now go beyond merely winning football matches.

Sergei Chuzavkov/Associated Press

The aftermath of Dnipro’s win over Napoli was a scene of undiluted happiness. Fans performed cartwheels, took selfies and climbed the goalposts, rejoicing in the occasion. The football pitch saw an eruption of emotion that represented a rare bright moment amid a bleak backdrop of political instability.

Dnipro have spent their entire Europa League run defying expectations, even the ones they had of themselves. Manager Myron Markevych admitted as much, saying, per uefa.com, “It’s true we weren’t planning on playing in the final this season,” before adding, “but you get more appetite once you start eating.”

They have played with their backs against the wall on and off the pitch this season, but if Dnipro can claim one more scalp against the odds, with one more display of defiance, the result would bring joy to a country racked by internal conflict.