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Emerging from Lobanovskiy's shadow

FC Dynamo Kyiv will play their first UEFA competition semi-final without the guiding hand of Valeriy Lobanovskiy on Thursday night, though the late coach's spirit is infusing the all-Ukrainian tie against FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

The statue of Valeriy Lobanovskiy at the stadium that bears his name
The statue of Valeriy Lobanovskiy at the stadium that bears his name ©Getty Images

The grandfather of Ukrainian football, Valeriy Lobanovskiy's name is the thread that ties the nation's success on the international stage together. This evening's meeting between FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup semi-finals marks, therefore, a step into the unknown in more ways than one.

Omnipotent image
It is seven years since Lobanovskiy's death was marked by national mourning, thousands lining the streets of Kiev as the hearse wound its way through the potholes to his final resting place at the Baykove cemetery. Yet his spirit lives on in the Ukrainian capital where, for more than a quarter of a century, he established himself as one of the world's most influential and innovative football coaches. Walking through the leafy boulevard towards Dynamo's ground his image looms large on murals, billboards and a poignant statue, before you reach the pitch and tribunes of the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium itself.

New ground
It is here that Dynamo will line up against Shakhtar in the first ever all-Ukrainian UEFA Cup semi-final tonight and the capital club will be on familiar ground, having previously graced the last four of European competitions five times. Crucially though, this will be the first time they do so without Lobanovskiy in familiar poise, captured so well in his statue, gripped with anticipation and leaning forward on the corner of his bench. It was Lobanovskiy who fashioned Dynamo into a team of orderly skill and muscular talent, climaxing first when they beat Hungary's Ferencvárosi TC in the 1975 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, the first Soviet team to win a major European competition.

'Dynamo lives'
Eleven years later the Bilo-Syni reclaimed the trophy, and were European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finalists in 1977 and 1987 before the advent of perestroika limited their powers, creating an exit door which allowed players to find wealth in Italy and Germany. Lobanovskiy, who also guided the Soviet Union to the UEFA European Championship final in 1988, himself departed in 1990, ending a 16-season stint as a coach that eclipsed his seven-year service as a goalscoring winger renowned for the quality of his delivery. Less than seven years later, after a spell in the Middle East, he was back; older, richer and plumper. The club, though in the midst of a run of nine successive top-flight titles, were beset by problems but Lobanovskiy was unperturbed. "Dynamo lives," he said on his arrival, "it has its traditions, its good foundations, and the potential to set off again to conquer the summits. It also has the will."

Shevchenko homage
And so it proved. Led by a dynamic front line of Serhiy Rebrov and Andriy Shevchenko, Dynamo twice humiliated FC Barcelona in the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League and 12 months later they were gracing the semi-finals, leading FC Bayern München 2-0 at one stage but eventually losing 4-3 on aggregate. Shevchenko departed that summer for AC Milan but did not forget to pay his dues to Lobanovskiy, returning with the UEFA Champions League trophy a year after his mentor's death and displaying it before his statue. Dynamo, Kiev and Ukrainian football as a whole have not forgotten their debt either, but this season's UEFA Cup success suggests they are learning to live without him.

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