New friends, old foes

By Pavle Gognidze & Igor Linnyk

Club Brugge KV's UEFA Champions League third-round tie on Wednesday against FC Shakhtar Donetsk will be a special game for striker Serhiy Serebrennikov. The 25-year-old Ukrainian, who joined the Belgian side from FC Dynamo Kyiv in May, is looking forward to taking on his former archrivals once again. 

Old rivalry
Serebrennikov, who has a five-year deal with Brugge, still keeps a close eye on the old rivalry between Shakhtar and Dynamo. And things have not been going well for his former club lately, with Shakhtar clinching the Ukrainian Premier League title last season.

'Bad luck'
"I know about the injury crisis, which took out all the key defenders," Serebrennikov said. "It seems like some bad luck is hovering over the club. They just recovered after Lobanovskiy's death and now this." Yet Serebrennikov is confident that Dynamo will make the Champions League first group phase for the sixth time in a row. "They have very strong reserves."

Aghahowa threat
Despite his loveof Dynamo Serebrennikov has a great deal of respect for the new Ukrainian champions from Donetsk. "The players I know from the national team, Hennadiy Zubov, Andriy Vorobey and Anatoly Tymoschuk, are very quick and gifted. Not to mention Nigerian forward Julius Aghahowa, who can decide any match alone," Serebrennikov added.

Shakhtar lapses
Yet no one knows Shakhtar's weaknesses better than a former Dynamo player - particularly the fact they have often been prone to defensive lapses. "Sometimes when leading in a match, Donetsk players tend to lose their focus," he said. "It must be said, though, that since [coach] Nevio Scala arrived at Shakhtar many things have changed.

"Big difference"
"There is a big difference between the Shakhtar who won the title at the end of last season and the current Shakhtar. Brazilian forward Brandão and Uruguayan defender Damian were signed and overall the team is more balanced now," added Serebrennikov.

"We can be successful"
The former Russian who has now taken up Ukrainian citizenship admits that three months after his move to Belgium he is still trying to find his feet. The language barrier is still not cracked and the brief visit to his adopted home for the tie is a welcome diversion. "I think we can be successful both in the Belgian first division and in the Champions League," he said.

Buryak watching
Serebrennikov joined Dynamo in 1999 after moving from FC Shinnik Yaroslavl. He won three titles with Dynamo and was picked for the national team on five occasions after becoming a Ukrainian citizen. National coach Leonid Buryak will be at the match so Serebrennikov will be able to kill two birds with one stone with a victory in Donetsk.