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Oleksandr Zinchenko Bought 27 Tickets For Family And Friends, Didn't Play Against Shakhtar

Oleksandr Zinchenko Bought 27 Tickets For Family And Friends, Didn't Play Against Shakhtar

Zinchenko wasn't in the squad for his return to Ukraine...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Oleksandr Zinchenko bought 27 tickets for family and friends in the hope they would see him in action against former club Shakhtar Donetsk, but it just wasn't to be.

The 21-year old Ukranian spent five years in the Shakhtar youth system between 2009 and 2014 before joining Russian side FC Ufa and eventually getting his surprise move to Manchester City in 2016.

He was back in his homeland for last night's Champions League match and even did the pre-match press conference ahead of what promised to be a special night for Zinchenko.

However, despite him travelling to Kharkiv for the game at the Metalist Stadium, Zinchenko was not named in Pep Guardiola's squad for the game. You can only imagine how gutted he was when he was informed of his exclusion.

The City boss described it as a "tough decision" to leave him out.

Benjamin Mendy started at left-back and there was no place for poor Zinchenko on the substitutes bench. He benefited from the Frenchman's ACL injury last season and went on to play eight times in the Premier League as a makeshift left-back.

This season, however, he's started just two games and might live to regret not moving to Wolves on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window.

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Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Football, Champions League, Shakhtar Donetsk