If any European soccer club deserved some luck to get a lucrative place in the Champions League, it was surely Shakhtar Donetsk. Recent results in the Champions League, but also in the Greek and Scottish leagues at the weekend, favored Shakhtar in the often complex qualifying path for soccer’s most coveted club competition. Now the new champion of Ukraine will skip the jeopardy of three Champions League qualifying rounds in July and August to go directly to the elite 36-team main phase starting in September.