*excluded, in brackets starting place distribution before Russia’s exclusion.
Ukraine could also benefit
The ironic side: Ukraine, suffering from the Russian war, could also benefit sportingly from Russia’s exclusion. Ukraine takes the place behind Scotland and would be the next mover from the playoffs to the group stage.
There would be a move up if the winner of the Champions League has already qualified for the group stage through their domestic league. In the current semifinals, this applies to Manchester City, Liverpool FC and Real Madrid. If one of those three sides wins the Champions League title, Ukraine would be there with their champions – without Russia’s exclusion Scotland would have had that place.
Ukraine ended the season without naming a champion
However, the Ukrainian Premier League decided on April 26 not to set a champion. The season was canceled due to the Russian attack, the Ukrainian association ratified the decision on Tuesday (05/02/2022). The table from February 24th was decided as the final table, with Shakhtar Donetsk at the top. Can a master move up who is not named as such?
At the request of the sports show, UEFA announced that the participating teams would not be known until the beginning of June. In the pandemic, however, several countries ended their seasons early. For example, like Ukraine, the Netherlands did not crown a champion in 2019/20 but did field teams in UEFA competitions.
Shakhtar Donetsk – a club on the run
The more important question should therefore be whether the teams from Ukraine will be able to make the trips. Shakhtar Donetsk has been a team on the run anyway since 2014 because pro-Russian separatists control the club’s homeland. In August 2020 the team welcomed VfL Wolfsburg in the Europa League in Kyiv, in February 2019 the team played against Eintracht Frankfurt in Kharkiv.
In 2012, matches of the European Championship were still held in Shakhtar Donetsk stadium in eastern Ukraine. Spain won a quarter-final against France 2-0 there and a semi-final against Portugal on penalties. The stadium is currently unused, having been damaged several times during the war in 2014.