Who is Shakhtar and Brazil striker Luiz Adriano?
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
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Luiz Adriano has been in sensational goalscoring form in the UEFA Champions League – but who is the FC Shakhtar Donetsk striker and where has he come from?
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Luiz Adriano has been in Ukraine for more than seven years, winning the 2009 UEFA Cup, six league titles, four Ukrainian Cups and three Ukrainian Super Cups with FC Shakhtar Donetsk. He was top scorer in the 2013/14 Ukrainian Premier League and has found the net 120 times in all competitions for the Pitmen. However, it is only now that the 27-year-old – in line to make his senior Brazil debut this week – is receiving Europe-wide attention. UEFA.com introduces a UEFA Champions League record-breaker.
Clubs: SC Internacional, FC Shakhtar Donetsk
UEFA honours
UEFA Cup: winner 2009
• Joined the Internacional academy aged 14. Made his first-team debut at 19 and went on to lift the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, scoring the winner in the semi-final victory against al-Ahly SC.
• Scored twice during Brazil's triumph at the 2007 South American Under-20 Championship and joined Shakhtar for €3m in March that year.
• Made his Shakhtar debut on 19 March 2007 but did not open his account for the club until almost exactly a year later, in a 4-1 defeat of FC Metalist Kharkiv.
• Opened the scoring in Shakhtar's 2-1 extra-time victory against SV Werder Bremen in the 2009 UEFA Cup final.
• Won his first league title in 2008, but did not become a first-team regular until the 2009/10 campaign. Has been Shakhtar's leading league scorer in each of the last five seasons.
• Recorded his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick in the 5-2 triumph over FC Nordsjælland on 20 November 2012. However, he was later charged with a violation of the principles of conduct because of the manner in which he scored his first goal and suspended for one fixture.
• Won his sixth league title – and fifth in a row – with Shakhtar last term, finishing as the leading marksman in the Ukrainian Premier League with 20 goals to his name.
• Became only the second player – after Lionel Messi – to hit five goals in one UEFA Champions League game, in Shakhtar's 7-0 defeat of FC BATE Borisov on matchday three this season. Simultaneously passed Andriy Vorobey (114 goals) as Shakhtar's all-time leading scorer.
• Scored another three against BATE on matchday four, becoming only the fourth player – after Messi (4), Filippo Inzaghi (3) and Mario Gomez (3) – to score more than two UEFA Champions League hat-tricks.
• Requires one more goal to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo's record of nine in a single group stage, set last season.
They say ...
"Luiz has been developing for a long time here; he has improved every year and has now reached the level of the Brazil national team. I always trusted him. Everyone was leaving and I let them leave, but I kept him at Shakhtar. He is now repaying this faith through his goals and his behaviour."
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu
He says ...
"I am boundlessly happy that I have managed to go down in the history of a club that I love and that welcomed me with great warmth and tenderness. For everything Shakhtar gave me, for how they helped me to grow both morally and professionally, I will not abandon them. If there is a place for me at this club I will be here until the end."