UEFA Cup Final: The Consolation Prize.

By: chris | May 20th, 2009

UEFA Cup Final: Werder Bremen v Shakhtar

Not only is this Europe’s consolation prize, but it’s the saving grace for two teams with wildly disappointing domestic seasons.

Shakhtar are supposed to, at the very least, challenge Dynamo Kyiv for the Ukrainian title. That never happened. The historic team from the capital bolted out of the gates and coasted to the title while the new money Brazilian-blooded Shakhtar never got firm enough footing to make it a two horse race. They’ll finish second and thus have a chance at the Champions League, but sitting 12 points off already-crowned rivals Dynamo must hurt.

Werder, on the other hand, would shed tears of joy if they found themselves 12 points off first in 2nd. They currently stand tall in the discussion for Europe’s most disappointing team and reign supreme as the continent’s most infuriatingly inconsistent. Not only do they need to win today in order to attain Europe next year, but they won’t even make it into the top half of the Bundesliga table – destined to finish 10th in an 18 team league. It’s been a disastrous year, which will be compounded in the summer when their star Diego leaves from greener pastures which aren’t green.

But while Werder would be envious of Shakhtar’s league position, the two are rife with parallels: they both won derbies – against Dynamo and HSV respectively – in the semis to get here, which may have been two finals of themselves, and both will be playing in their domestic cup finals this year. And this means one will have the chance to win a double. A double of lesser competitions, but a double nonetheless. Hardly a “disappointing” season when it comes right down to it.

And that’s what this is all about for both teams: consolation. It’s 90 minutes to turn around an entire season. For Werder it’s 90 minutes to reclaim some honor from this awful campaign which has seen so many upstarts leapfrog them in the table. For Shakhtar it’s 90 minutes to firmly put Ukraine on the European map again, a growing power slowly creeping over to the mainland, while also returning the UEFA Cup to the former Soviet Bloc. And for both, it will be 90 minutes of necessity.

It might not be Barcelona v Manchester United and it might not be the Champions League, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be even more dramatic. It’s almost as though the perfect storm is brewing.

Predictions: They both have strong, strong cases for winning: Werder play far better against big teams in big games – they did knock out Milan after all – and Shakhtar’s main stumbles came earlier in the season, way back in last summer (the UPL runs July-June with a three month winter break) and are in a great run of form. The game’s in Istanbul, so no help there.

Something says Shakhtar. Not sure what – maybe just that it’s about time Ukraine had a UEFA Cup champ. 2-1 Shakhtar

Betting Odds:

The betting industry found it just as difficult to predict a winner.

90 minutes:

Shakhtar: 13/8
Draw: 23/10
Werder: 13/8

To win:

Shakhtar Donetsk: 5/6
Werder Bremen: 5/6
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: It’ll be an epic match of goals and drama and yet by Thursday morning, all anyone will care about is the fitness of Rio Ferdinand and Andres Iniesta.

* – We will have a liveblog for the game tomorrow (it starts at 2045 CET so sometime shortly before).