Jonathan Wilson: Man behind Shakhtar's success in Champions League has seen it all

[Jonathan Wilson]

When Mircea Lucescu was appointed manager of Shakhtar Donetsk in 2004, few imagined it would last long. He'd been through seven clubs in the previous eight years while Rinat Akhmetov, hiring and firing in the best tradition of oligarch owners everywhere, have been through six coaches in the previous four years. Yet eight years on, Lucescu is still there, eyes still twinkling in his creased face as he explains -- yet again -- that the referee, the football establishment and the whole football universe is conspiring against him.

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