Un histórico afectado por la guerra || A war-affected history [ESP + ENG]

A historic club of European soccer and a giant in Ukraine is Dynamo Kiev. The team from the Ukrainian capital was founded in 1927. It is the maximum winner of the Ukrainian Premier League with 16 and was also crowned 13 times in the former USSR First Division. Its international record is quite extensive, with two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups in 1975 and 1986, as well as a European Super Cup in 1975 and three Champions League semi-finals in 1977, 1987 and 1999. Players such as Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov, Oleg Blokhin, Igor Belanov and more recently Adriy Yarmolenko have played for the club.

Their years of greatest splendor took place in the second half of the 20th century, mainly in the 70s, 80s and 90s. In these years they won their only international titles, with a squad full of Soviet stars such as the 1975 Golden Ball winner Oleg Blokhin, who scored three goals in the 1975 European Super Cup final against Bayern Munich. After the fall of the socialist camp, the club left to play in the Ukrainian league where they won the title consecutively from the 1993 and 2001 season. To date they have managed to win 7 more domestic championships, the last one last season. In the Champions League they have not reached the semifinals again, but they are always a difficult team and even more if they play at home.

Their main rival in Ukrainian soccer is Shakthar Donetsk, both teams have never been relegated to the second division in the local league. Dynamo plays its home matches at the majestic Kiev Olympic Stadium which has a capacity of 60 thousand spectators and has hosted the Euro 2012 final and the 2018 UEFA Champions League final. The club's all-time leading scorer is Oleg Blokhin with 266 goals in 582 matches and the player who has worn the blue and white shirt, the team's distinctive colors, is Oleksandr Shovkovskiy.

The cruel war waged by Russia on Ukrainian soil has stopped the actions of the Ukrainian soccer league. Many of the foreign players have left the country and their professional future is unknown and many nationals have joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Heavy shelling has destroyed the city's infrastructure and a beautiful stadium such as the Olympic Stadium may be in danger of being hit by an explosion.

Créditos || Credits
Imagen de portada creada por mi en Canva || Cover image created by me in Canva