Dmytro Chygrynskiy


Dmytro Anatoliyovych Chygrynskiy is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Greek club AEK Athens.
He spent most of his professional career, from 2002 to 2015, in two spells with Shakhtar Donetsk. He won honours at the club including five Ukrainian Premier League titles, as many Ukrainian Cups, and the UEFA Cup in 2009. He spent the 2009-10 season with Barcelona in Spain, joining for €25 million, playing rarely and returning to Shakhtar for €15 million.
Chygrynskiy represented the Ukraine national football team from 2007 to 2011, making 29 appearances. He was in the nation's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but did not play due to injury.

Early life

Chygrynskiy was born in Iziaslav, Khmelnytsky Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. He was a player in the UFK Lviv youth system before moving to Donetsk at the age of 14, completing his development at the Shakhtar academy. He holds a Master's degree in liberal arts.

Club career

Shakhtar Donetsk

Chygrynskiy earned his debut in the Ukrainian Premier League in 2004, at the age of 17. In 2005, he was loaned out to Ukrainian club Metalurh Zaporizhzhya, where he experienced continuous top flight football. After a successful stint at Metalurh, Dmytro was brought back to Donetsk. He quickly emerged as a consistent defender and a leading figure, and first experienced Champions League football when coming on as a substitute against FC Barcelona during the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League. The young player cemented a starting position at the team in the 2006–07 season, by the end of which, at the age of 20, he captained Shakhtar in the Ukrainian Cup final against Dynamo Kyiv in the absence of the regular captain, Matuzalém.
During the 2007–08 season, Chygrynskiy was selected as the vice-captain of the team. During the season, he was voted man of the match in the 2–0 win over rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Cup Final. Also in the same season, he won the Ukrainian Premier League with Shakhtar.
At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Chygrynskiy helped the squad win the Ukrainian Super Cup. With Shakhtar, he played in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, finishing third in the group behind Barcelona and Sporting Clube de Portugal. This was not the end of the club's European journey, however, as they parachuted down to the UEFA Cup. He helped them team make it to the quarter-final stage, defeating 1993 European Champions Olympique de Marseille. They then progressed to the semi-finals, where they played Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kyiv. Shakhtar progressed to the 2009 UEFA Cup Final against DFB-Pokal champions Werder Bremen – Chygrynskiy and Shakhtar won the trophy 2–1 after extra time.

Barcelona

On 26 August 2009, after long negotiations between Shakhtar and FC Barcelona, a deal was reached for the transfer of Chygrynskiy. The transfer was valued at around €25 million and included the clause that Chygrynskiy play in the UEFA Super Cup for his former club, coincidentally against Barcelona. On 31 August 2009, Barcelona confirmed that Chygrynskiy had passed a medical and signed for five years. Chygrynskiy was the first Ukrainian player to ever play for Barcelona and was expected to display his ability with the ball at his feet and "aerial presence and strong defensive skills".
Chygrynskiy made his debut for Barcelona on 12 September 2009 in La Liga against Getafe CF. He played a full 90 minutes on his debut, a 2–0 victory.
Though Barcelona retained the title, Chygrynskiy fared poorly in his debut season with the club. Despite this, manager Pep Guardiola had been keen to keep him.

Return to Shakhtar Donetsk

On 6 July 2010, the 23-year-old centre back signed a five-year deal to return to his former club Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of €15 million, making Shakhtar a profit of €10 million. after spending just one season with the Spanish team, playing just 14 times. On 3 November 2010, Chygrynskiy scored a header against Arsenal in the Champions League from a Jádson free-kick via a deflection off Craig Eastmond.
Chygrynskiy left Shakhtar by mutual consent on 2 February 2015.

Dnipro

Seven days after leaving Shakhtar, Chygrynskiy joined fellow league team FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on a free transfer and signed a 1-year contract.

AEK Athens

On 11 June 2016, Chygrynskiy signed a two-year deal with a possible extension for a third with Greek Superleague club AEK Athens. On 26 February 2017 he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 home win against AEL. The following 4 February, he scored in a 2–1 away win against champions Olympiacos, his first goal for the 2017–18 season.

International career

After a successful 2005–06 season, Chygrynskiy was called up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad by coach Oleg Blokhin, following the injury to Serhiy Fedorov. Shortly before the World Cup, Chygrynskiy was a member of the Ukraine under-21 team, which finished as runners-up in the 2006 UEFA U-21 Championship. Showing impressive form during the championship, he was selected as a member of the team of the tournament by UEFA. Although set to be a part of Ukraine's World Cup squad, Chygrynskiy suffered an injury during the closing stages of under-21 competition, which forced him out of the entire forthcoming tournament.
Following his recovery from injury, Chygrynskiy established himself as a starter for the Ukrainian football team in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Shakhtar Donetsk
;Barcelona
;AEK Athens