The UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on 20 May will be a Germany v Ukraine affair after Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Dynamo Kyiv set up two domestic last-four ties on 30 April and 7 May.

Dynamo meet Shakhtar
Only one of those four teams, Dynamo, did not win their quarter-final first leg a week ago but in the early kick-off they defeated visitors Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-0. Their opponents this time will be Shakhtar, who followed up a 2-0 home win against PSG’s Ligue 1 rivals Olympique de Marseille with a 2-1 victory in France. Dynamo, who knocked out FC Metalist Kharkiv in the Round of 16, are at home in the first leg against Shakhtar, with a first Ukrainian UEFA Cup finalist assured.

Bremen against Hamburg
Lining up against Shakhtar or Dynamo at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium will be a Bundesliga club. Bremen travelled to Udinese Calcio 3-1 up and although at half-time the tie was level, Werder came back to draw 3-3 and progress 6-4 overall. Hamburg were also defending a 3-1 lead at Manchester City FC and José Paolo Guerrero’s early goal proved crucial, as the English club came back to win 2-1 and fall just short. Martin Jol’s men will aim to follow the example of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who knocked out Bremen in the 1987/88 semi-finals, the first of three times Werder have fallen at that stage. Bremen will be at home in the opening leg before travelling to HSV seven days later, but whatever happens there will be a new name on the UEFA Cup in the final season before the launch of the replacement UEFA Europa League.

FC Dynamo Kyiv will contest their first European semi-final since 1998/99 after easing past an out-of-sorts Paris Saint-Germain FC side in their UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg.

Early goals
The Ukrainians fashioned little in the first encounter seven days ago, yet were two goals to the good inside 16 minutes thanks to the recalled Ismaël Bangoura and a horribly micued punch by PSG goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau. The Ligue 1 outfit threatened to make a fist of it at the start of the second half, without ever overextending Dynamo No1 Stanislav Bogush, but the game was up when another Landreau error on 61 minutes allowed Ognjen Vukojević to add a third. It sets up a semi-final against domestic rivals FC Shakhtar Donetsk, whom they lead by 15 points at the top of the Premier League.

Instant impact
Dynamo outlined their intentions by including Bangoura, a substitute last week, alongside Artem Milevskiy up front. With four minutes gone the positive change had already paid dividends as Milevskiy laid the ball off to his strike partner on the edge of the penalty area and the Guinean international steered past Landreau. The visitors were shell-shocked yet almost restored parity moments later when a long throw-in was flicked on by Jérémy Clément for Péguy Luyindula, who headed against the outside of the post.

Dominant Dynamo Cruise Into Last Four … read more »

Valencia                        2 – 2                     Dynamo Kyiv
Marchena 45, Del Horno 54                   Kravets 34, 73

FC Dynamo Kyiv ended Spain’s interest in the UEFA Cup with Artem Kravets striking twice against Valencia CF to set up an all-Ukrainian Round of 16 tie against FC Metalist Kharkiv, with Yuri Semin’s side hosting the first leg.

Kravets crucial
After the teams drew 1-1 in snowy Kiev in the first game, Kravets put the visitors into a 34th-minute lead, and while goals from Carlos Marchena and Asier Del Horno swung the match back in the Spanish club’s favour, Kravets had the final say with his second strike settling matters.

Slow start
David Villa’s shot from just inside the area called Stanislav Bogush into action after two minutes, while Roman Eremenko had Dynamo’s only chance of a disappointing opening spell from the away side, drilling a right-footed effort wide from 20 metres after eleven minutes.

Kravets Comes Good For Dogged Dynamo … read more »