Eastern Europe's champions league struggles

The last sixteen draw with no eastern representation
Source: Fabrice Coffrini Getty images

When the draw for the last sixteen of the champions league was made last December there was one glaring fact that was missed by a lot of the media. No eastern European teams. That's right, no team east of Germany/Italy had progressed to the knockout stage. This despite having six sides in the group stage (seven if you want to include Turkish teams). Of the six teams only half progressed to the Europa league after Christmas with CSKA Moskva, Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Zagreb finishing bottom of their groups.
This is the first time the knockout stage has been without an eastern side since the 2008-09 edition. In the years since that last knockout stage absence only four different clubs have made the stage (CSKA Moskva, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St.Petersburg). The statistics don't make for good reading. Only twice in that period has more than one eastern club made it through the group stage (2015-16 & 2011-12). While this season is the first in nine with no eastern progression you need to go back to 2011 for the last eastern quarter-finalist, which was Shakhtar Donetsk. You need to go back to 1998-99 for the last eastern semi-finalist which was the terrific Dynamo Kyiv side that featured Serhiy Rebrov and Andriy Shevchenko.

So is there cause for concern by this year's absence? Yes and no. It does highlight the decline of eastern European football not having sides progress but the wider issue is that eastern European football has been left behind by the richer leagues in the West. The 'no' part is that for the majority of the last decade at least one side has made the knockout stage with two quarter finalists produced in the same period. One drab year doesn't constitute a crisis but this does depend on next season's results before any trends or conclusions can be drawn upon.

A trend or conclusion that can be drawn upon however is that when it comes to the champions league, eastern sides can't progress deep into the competition. The reason for this is obvious with the west significantly richer and stronger than the east with the best players competing with western teams. While the likes of Zenit and Shakhtar have spent big money on certain players they don't have the finance to build teams capable of competing for continental honours like their western counterparts.

The lack of homegrown talent being produced is another significant factor in the eastern struggle. Under the guidance of the legendary Valery Lobanovskiy, that Dynamo Kyiv team that reached the semi-final in 1999 was entirely comprised of eastern European players. Shakhtar Donetsk reached the quarter-finals in 2011 with a predominantly Brazilian base of players.

In Russia the lack of quality coming through is seen in the mediocre performances from the national team in the last two tournaments. Elsewhere in eastern Europe the situation gets more bleak. The last eastern continental champions were Crvena Zvezda in 1991. They haven't graced the finals of the champions league/European cup since 1991-92. Their demise in Europe can be strongly attributed to the demise of Yugoslavia. No longer were they competing with the best in the Balkans domestically but only within Serbian borders with weaker opponents. Rivals FK Partizan reached the final in 1966 but have only reached the group stage twice without ever progressing.
Over in Romania, former winners Steaua Bucuresti have struggled to come remotely close of threatening to replicate that feat. They have never progressed beyond the group stage in the current format.
Bulgaria have only qualified thrice and are yet to get beyond the group stage. Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are all yet to get sides beyond the group stage. Poland this season had Legia Warszawa qualify for their first representative in twenty years.
Outside of Russia and Ukraine it is the Czech republic who have put up some decent showings in the champions league. Sparta Praha did at the turn and beginning of the millennium reach the then second group stage on a number of occasions. Since 2004 no Czech side has reached the last sixteen.

So can an eastern European side ever win the champions league? I have to be blunt and say no chance. Not under the current format. The money is too heavily concentrated in western Europe with the best players. Simply put the successes of Steaua and Crvena Zvezda were achieved in a far more level playing field and it is simply impossible to imagine any eastern European side including the likes of Zenit and Shakhtar to be lifting the trophy. Even getting to the quarter-finals is becoming an increasingly distant and difficult task, let alone competing for the trophy.