Henrikh Mkhitaryan Confident That Borussia Will Appear In Play Off

HENRIKH MKHITARYAN CONFIDENT THAT BORUSSIA WILL APPEAR IN PLAY OFF

16:42, 8 November, 2013

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The midfielder of the Armenian
National Football Squad and Borussia Dortmund Henrikh Mkhitaryan is
confident that his team is capable to appear in the next stage of
the UEFA Champions League.

As reports “Armenpress” citing Fourfourtwo website, Mkhitaryan
underscored: “Something went wrong in the match against Arsenal.

We lost a game we could win. Currently we concentrate on the
upcoming two matches of Bundesliga. We must beat Wolfsburg and Bayern
Munich. Only after these we’ll think about the match against Napoli. I
am still confident we’ll pass this stage.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian footballer who plays as a
midfielder for the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the
Armenia national football team. Mkhitaryan is Armenia’s all-time
top goalscorer, scoring 12 goals in 43 international matches since
his debut in January 2007. His previous clubs include Pyunik Yerevan,
where he came through the youth system, Metalurh Donetsk, and Shakhtar
Donetsk. Mkhitaryan was chosen Armenian Footballer of the Year in 2009,
2011 and 2012. In 2012 he was voted as the best Shakhtar player of
2011-12 season by the fans, and Ukraine Premier League MVP. In 2012,
Mkhitaryan was named in UEFA’s Top 100 players by UEFA European
Football Yearbook 2012-13.

Mkhitaryan was voted the CIS Footballer of the Year for 2012, making
him the first Armenian footballer to be named the best player from
post-Soviet countries. Mkhitaryan received the nickname Heno from his
fans in Armenia and has recently been nicknamed Micki by his Borussia
Dortmund fans.

Mkhitaryan was born on 22 January 1989 in the Armenian capital Yerevan
to Marina Taschyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan, a prominent striker of FC
Ararat Yerevan during the 1980s, who died of a brain tumor at age
33. His mother is the head of the national teams department in the
Armenian Football Federation and his elder sister, Monica, works at
UEFA’s headquarters.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the Mkhitaryan family moved to France,
where Hamlet Mkhitaryan played for the now defunct ASOA Valence
helped them to be to be promoted to the second division League 2. The
Mkhitaryans returned to Yerevan in 1995. Mkhitaryan graduated from
the Institute of Physical Culture in Armenia. He currently studies
economics at the Yerevan branch of the St. Petersburg Institute.

Upon graduation, he plans to study there as a lawyer. Growing up,
Mkhitaryan considered Zinedine Zidane his football idol.

Due to his success in the 2009 Armenian Premier League at Pyunik
Yerevan, he joined Ukrainian Premier League club Metalurh Donetsk.

Mkhitaryan joined Metalurh Donetsk. He scored a goal on his debut in a
3-0 victory againstBelarusian Premier League side FC Partizan Minsk,
in the Europa League on 16 July 2009.On 19 July, he made his league
debut in a 0-0 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. His first league
goal came in a 2-2 draw with Karpaty Lviv on 26 July. On 6 August,
he scored the first goal in a 3-0 second leg Europa League win against
Slovenian Interblock Ljubljana, winning 5-0 on aggregate. He finished
the season with 14 goals in 38 appearances, including 29 league
matches and 9 goals.

On 30 August, he sealed a $7.5 million switch to reigning Premier
League champions Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mkhitaryan played in 2-0 2012 Super Cup victory over Metalurh
Donetsk.[38] In his first match of the 2012-2013 Premier League
season, he netted twice and provided two assists in a 6-0 season
opening victory against Arsenal Kyiv. He managed a hat-trick against
Chornomorets Odesa in a 5-1 win to reach 10 goals for the season after
just six games, equalling his tally for the previous season. On 19
September, in Shakhtar’s first Champions League match of the season,
Mkhitaryan scored twice in a 2-0 victory over Danish champions
Nordsjælland. This was the first time he had scored a goal in the
Champions League and he was named Man of the Match. He was also named
in the Team of the Week for matchday 1 of the Champions League after
his brace against Nordsjælland. On 16 March 2013, Mkhitaryan played
his 100th game in the Ukrainian Premier League in a match against
Chornomorets Odesa.

On 11 May 2013, Mkhitaryan scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the
Premier League season in a 5-0 victory over Tavria. These goals set a
Ukrainian Premier League record for most goals in a season. Mkhitaryan
finished the season with 25 league goals, and the attacking midfielder
was praised for his technique and dedication.

On 25 June, Borussia Dortmund made a ~@25 million ($30 million)
bid, but in confirming the offer Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin
insisted that it fell short of the clubs valuation, which was a single
payment of ~@30m (£25m). In the same press conference, Palkin confirmed
the acquisition of Brazilian Fred from Sport Club Internacional for
~@15m (£12.5m), a likely replacement. On 5 July, it was reported that
Borussia Dortmund has succeeded in talks with Shakhtar and Mkhitaryan
was on his way to Germany for a medical test. On 8 July, Borussia
Dortmund announced that it was set to sign a four-year deal with
Mkhitaryan for ~@25 (£21.5) million. Shakhtar and Borussia officially
“resolved all the necessary formalities” and agreed on [email protected] (£23.6)
million, making him the most expensive purchase in the club’s history.

On his debut in a pre-season friendly against FC Basel on 10 July 2013,
Mkhitaryan set up a goal for Marco Reus in the 11th minute and scored
his first goal for the club 16 minutes later, helping his side to a
3-1 victory away at St. Jakob-Park. Mkhitaryan couldn’t take part
and wasn’t listed in the squad at the 2013 DFL-Supercup which his
club won due to an injury he received on a friendly game before that.

Mkhitaryan debuted for BVB following his return from a three weeks
sustained injury in the second round of 2013-14 Bundesliga on 18
August 2013 in a BVB victory over Eintracht Braunschweig at BVB’s
Signal Iduna Park. Mkhitaryan’s first two Bundesliga goals were
decisive in a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt to keep Dortmund in
first place in the Bundesliga. His first Champions League goal for
Dortmund came in a 1-2 away win against Arsenal.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/739410/henrikh-mkhitaryan-confident-that-borussia-will-appear-in-play-off.html