FRIDAY FEATURE: Andriy Shevchenko is a Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan legend – now a manager, he is undoubtedly an Ukrainian icon

Although he didn’t set the Premier League alight during a forgettable spell at Chelsea in the mid-to-late noughties, Andriy Shevchenko is undoubtedly an icon in his native Ukraine.

Shevchenko caught the attention of Europe’s top clubs with a stunning hat-trick away to Barcelona in the Champions League group stages in the 1997-98 season. 

Dynamo were eventually knocked out by Juventus in the quarter-finals that season but they went a step further in the 1998-99 campaign.

Topping a group of Arsenal, Lens and Panathinaikos showed that the Ukrainian side were no pushovers in Europe.

Shevchenko netted once in the Santiago Bernabeu before a brace in the return leg was enough to dump Real Madrid out at the quarter-final stage.

Bayern Munich squeezed past Dynamo 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals to end any hopes of lifting the trophy.

The striker made his mark on the tournament though and his eight goals made him joint top-scorer with Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke.

His clinical finishing attracted the interest of some of Europe’s biggest clubs and when AC Milan came calling in the summer of 1999, he couldn’t turn them down.

Move to AC Milan

Shevchenko adapted to Italian football with ease, finishing his debut season as top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals in 32 league games.

He continued his form into the 2000-01 season, netting 34 goals in all competitions in an otherwise difficult season for his club.

Milan failed to qualify for the Champions League for the 2001-02 season, having to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup that year instead.

Their star striker bagged 17 goals in all competitions as Milan crucially secured their place in the Champions League for the 2002-03 season, with a fourth-placed finish in Serie A.

Despite all his goals in Milan, going into the 2002-03 season, Shevchenko had failed to win any trophies since moving to Italy.

Shevchenko played a full 90 minutes in a Champions League qualifier with Czech side Slovan Liberec, helping his side to a 1-0 first leg win.

It would be the Ukrainian’s last game for two months after he underwent knee surgery in August 2002 to cure ligament damage in his left knee.

In his first game back from the injury, he played a full 90 minutes in a 3-2 defeat away to Chievo Verona, getting on the scoresheet in the process.

Goals proved to be hard to come by for Shevchenko in 2002-03, scoring 10 times in 39 games in all competitions that season.

The striker did however save his goals for the most important moments that season, with his most crucial goal coming in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

AC Milan were paired with their arch-rivals Inter Milan in the semi-finals with Shevchenko’s side drawn at home for the first leg.

The first leg ended goalless, meaning that Shevchenko’s goal in the return leg sent AC Milan through to the final on away goals following a 1-1 draw with Inter.

In the other semi-final, Juventus beat Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate to set up an all-Italian final at Old Trafford in May 2003.

Start of silverware spree

The final ended goalless after extra-time and Shevchenko scored the winning penalty to seal a sixth European Cup title for the Rossoneri.

Scoring the winning penalty ensured his place in Ukrainian football history as the first ever player from his country to win the Champions League.

As well as winning the Champions League, AC Milan secured the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Super Cup in 2003, meaning Shevchenko finally had some medals to show for all his goals in Milan.

The silverware kept coming in 2004 as Milan sealed their 17th Serie A title and they beat Lazio 3-0 in the Supercoppa Italiana courtesy of a Shevchenko hat-trick.

Shevchenko secured his second golden boot in Milan’s glorious 2003-04 campaign, scoring another 24 league goals in 32 games.

His form was recognised when he won the 2004 Ballon d’Or award on top of being honoured in his native Ukraine with the ‘Hero of Ukraine’ award, the highest honour a Ukrainian citizen can receive.

Milan returned to the Champions League final in 2005 and at half-time they appeared to be well on their way to winning another title, racing into a 3-0 lead against Liverpool in Istanbul.

The English giants stunned the Italian side with an incredible comeback to draw 3-3 and send the game into extra-time.

In extra-time, Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek pulled off an incredible double save to prevent Shevchenko from giving Milan the lead.

The game went to penalties, but Shevchenko couldn’t repeat his heroics of 2003, as Dudek denied him from the spot to inspire Liverpool to a historic comeback.

In the summer of 2005, Premier League champions Chelsea pushed hard to sign Shevchenko.

The Blues were splashing the cash with the backing of owner Roman Abramovich, who was keen to bring the striker to London.

Blue is the colour

Shevchenko stayed for one more season in Milan, scoring another 28 goals for the club before signing for Chelsea for a then club record £30m fee in May 2006.

The Londoners had finally got their man after a long pursuit and there was plenty of hype surrounding his arrival in the English capital.

He found the net on his Chelsea debut, scoring in a 2-1 defeat in the Community Shield against Liverpool.

He scored his first Premier League goal in a 2-1 defeat away to Middlesbrough in August 2006 and appeared to be settling in nicely at Stamford Bridge.

The goals dried up for the Ukrainian star however, scoring just 14 times in 51 games in his debut season in England.

Despite a disappointing campaign in front of goal, Shevchenko added another medal to his growing collection, after starting in the League Cup final win over Arsenal in 2007.

His season was cut short by a hernia operation that saw him miss Chelsea’s FA Cup final win over Manchester United at Wembley in May 2007.

Shevchenko had to wait until mid-September before his first appearance of the 2007-08 season, coming in for an injured Didier Drogba for a goalless draw at home to Blackburn Rovers.

He scored an equaliser against Norwegian side Rosenborg in what was the last game of Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge of the club.

Avram Grant replaced Mourinho in the dugout, but Shevchenko struggled to nail down a place in the starting XI every week, however he proved to be a useful rotational option.

The Ukrainian finished the season with eight goals in 25 appearances as Chelsea missed out on silverware despite reaching the final of both the League Cup and the Champions League.

The beginning of the end at Chelsea

The lack of silverware meant that Grant was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari and the Brazilian manager made it clear to Shevchenko that he wasn’t in his plans for the 2008-09 season.

In a bid to revive his career, Shevchenko signed a season-long loan deal with former club AC Milan in the summer of 2008.

The loan deal didn’t work out, with the striker scoring just twice in 26 appearances in all competitions and failing to register a goal in Serie A.

Upon his return to London in the summer of 2009, it was all-change in the dugout at Chelsea once again.

Scolari was sacked in February 2009 and Guus Hiddink took charge until the end of the 2008-09 season.

Carlo Ancelotti then joined Shevchenko in leaving Milan for London and although the two had enjoyed a good working relationship in Italy, Shevchenko wasn’t included in the squad for the 2009 Community Shield success.

His final appearance for Chelsea came in a 3-1 win away to Sunderland in August 2009, when he replaced Deco for the final four minutes of the game.

Return to Dynamo Kyiv

Ten years after leaving Dynamo Kyiv, Shevchenko returned to Ukrainian club football late in August 2009, signing a two-year deal with the club.

He scored from the penalty spot on his second debut for Dynamo in a 3-1 win over Metalurh Donetsk.

He scored a further 30 goals in 83 appearances during his second spell for the club, before retiring in 2012 to take up a career in politics.

Andriy Shevchenko the manager

In early 2016, Shevchenko became the assistant manager of the Ukrainian national team before taking on the manager role after the departure of Mykhaylo Fomenko following a disappointing performance at Euro 2016.

Under his guidance, Ukraine failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018, finishing third behind Croatia and Iceland in their qualifying group.

They did qualify for Euro 2020 however, making it out of the group stages as one of the best third-placed teams.

In the round of 16, Ukraine shocked Sweden with a 2-1 win in the final minute of extra-time before eventually losing 4-0 in the quarter-finals to England.

Despite leading his country to their first ever quarter-final appearance at a European Championship, Shevchenko left his role as Ukraine manager in August 2021.

In November 2021 he returned to Italian football, this time as manager of Serie A strugglers Genoa.

His spell in charge of Genoa was short-lived, after being sacked in January 2022, just 11 games into his tenure.

He failed to win a league game as manager of Genoa and his only win came against Salernitana in the Coppa Italia in December 2021.

Shevchenko on Russia’s invasion in his native Ukraine

Shevchenko has been vocal about Russia’s ongoing invasion of his homeland and has encouraged people from across the globe to help wherever possible.

He told DAZN: ‘We ask for help to find funds: Ukraine lacks food and medical equipment is running low. We need everything, but also moral support: people must protest and talk more, Ukraine needs more humanity.

‘We must demonstrate to stop this war, try in every way to help my country win this battle, to end the war as soon as possible. We must cancel all human losses.

‘War is the worst thing there is. My country, right now, is going through hell. I am trying to reach people’s hearts to raise funds and help: there are so many people in Ukraine who need help.’