Zorya Luhansk: Who Are Manchester United's Opponents?

All you need to know about Manchester United's Europa League opponents Zorya Luhansk ahead of Thursday's meeting at Old Trafford...

The names of Feyenoord and Fenerbahce are familiar to English audiences but the fourth team in Manchester United's Europa League group are less well known.

Even Jose Mourinho was stumped. "The Ukrainian team, I don't have a vision of them or their qualities," admitted the United manager following the draw. So what's the story?

The history

Zorya are based in Luhansk, a city in the eastern most province of Ukraine, but are currently playing their games further west in Zaporizhia due to the ongoing conflict in the region.

The club was founded in 1923 but have gone through numerous name changes and reorganisations since then. Most notably, they were known as Zorya Voroshilovgrad - in line with the former name of the city of Luhansk - during the team's most successful period.

The trophies

That came during the early 1970s when, despite competing against the strongest sides in the then Soviet Union, Zorya were crowned as league champions in 1972. They subsequently reached the second round of the European Cup in the 1973/74 season.

Two further cup wins followed later in the decade, but the club suffered a real fall from grace - competing in the third tier of the Ukrainian league by the mid-1990s. They are enjoying a renaissance though, finishing fourth in the top flight last season as well as reaching the cup final.

The manager

Yuriy Vernydub has been in charge at Zorya for almost five years since stepping up from the role of assistant manager. The 50-year-old coach currently favours a 4-4-1-1 formation and his preparations for Old Trafford have already begun.

"I watched the Manchester United game against Leicester," said Vernydub. "I think a lot of the guys were watching the game." Even in a 4-1 win for United, he saw reasons for hope too. "I will say that Leicester looked very good in the first 20 minutes," he added.

The team

Vernydub's team might not be too well known but the players themselves have plenty of experience. Captain Mykyta Kamenyuka is a 31-year-old Ukraine international, while Jaba Lipartia and Mikhail Sivakow are Georgia and Belarus internationals respectively.

However, several of the key players who helped take the club into Europe for this season have since moved on. Last season's top scorer Pylyp Budkivskyi is now at Anzhi Makhachkala so the goalscoring responsibility now lies with Vladyslav Kulach.

The prospects

Zorya drew their first Europa League game 1-1 at home to Fenerbahce and come into this game with a little bit of form behind them having scored a stoppage-time winner in their previous away game at Dynamo Kiev as well as beating Vorskla Poltava last time out.

However, the bookmakers do not fancy their chances of causing an upset. Sky Bet make them 18/1 shots to win on Thursday, while the Ukrainian outfit are available at 20/1 to top Group A. It seems Mourinho isn't the only one without a vision of their qualities.

Credit: Skysports.com