Shakhtar steal a march

Shakhtar bounce back
Although champions Dynamo took the Super Cup with a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory, cup holders Shakhtar bounced back to defeat their frequent tormentors 2-0 in the opening league game of the season last Thursday.

Lucescu makes mark
The 58-year-old Mircea Lucescu only signed up as Shakhtar coach in May, but already he appears to have stamped his authority on the side. Goals from Mariusz Lewandowski and Igor Duljaj gave his team the three points at Dynamo, but it was the manner of their performance that impressed.

Collective responsibility
Shakhtar succeeded in beating Dynamo at their own game by pressing them all over the pitch with a mobile formation that saw all eleven players assume collective responsibility. The late Valeriy Lobanovskiy, who contributed more than any other to Dynamo's domestic dominance, would have approved.

Psychological advantage
However, Dynamo should not be written off. Their run of eleven titles in 12 seasons gives them a pyschological advantage over Shakhtar, who have managed just one championship in the same period, and no fewer than eight finishes as runners-up.

New arrival
Although they have signed just one player this summer, in young Serbo-Montenegrin midfielder Milos Ninkovic, Dynamo vice-president Jozsef Szabo is adamant there is no reason to panic. "This is the way we do things," he said. "The current Dynamo squad is a complete one and Ninkovic is a player for the future."

Shakhtar spend
In contrast, Shakhtar have been busy in the transfer market, recruiting Brazilians Matuzalem and Batista as well as Czechs Jan Laštuvka and Tomáš Hübschman and Romanian player Cosmin Barcauan. The spending may not stop there, either, with Lucescu admitting he is close to signing two more "very serious players".

'Not a surprise'
Szabo shrugged off the importance of his rivals' transfer spree. "They've changed coach so it's no surprise that the new man has different requirements. Our coach [Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko] has been in Kiev for three years, so he doesn't need to make radical changes.

'Great young players'
"Besides, we have great young players," he continued, "who are the heart of the Ukraine Under-19 team [who have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European U19 Championship in Switzerland]. I think our young players will get a chance to shine this year."

Dnipro chances
It seems unlikely that any of the other 14 teams in the division will muster the results, or the resources, to challenge for the title. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk finished third last season, and also reached the UEFA Cup third round, but a single new signing, midfielder Denys Andrienko from FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, indicates that they are not about to threaten the Dynamo-Shakhtar hegemony.

Not enough reinforcements
Similarly, FC Metalurh Donetsk and FC Chornomorets Odesa - fourth and fifth last term, more than 20 points behind the champions - have not reinforced their squads to the point where they can be considered realistic contenders.

Status quo
At a stretch, one club who could trouble the status quo are FC Illychivets Mariupil. Nikolai Pavlov's side qualified for the UEFA Cup via the fair play draw and have added seven Ukrainian internationals, including Gennadiy Zubov and Eduard Tsykhmeystruk, as well as Lithuanian international Dainius Gleveckas, to a squad that took eighth place last season.