Dario Srna, sporting director of Donetsk's Shakhtar, revealed a little-known story connected to the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv in an interview with Dmytro Gordon. According to the Croatian, on the eve of the decisive match between Real and Liverpool, he personally helped Cristiano Ronaldo solve the problem of accommodating his family in a hotel, and the Portuguese repaid the kindness a few months later by fully supporting a sick Ukrainian boy. This is reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing Srna's words.
Hotel rush on the eve of the final
May 2018. Kyiv is preparing to host the Champions League final, and the city is in a real frenzy: there are virtually no free hotel rooms. Dario Srna, who was in the Ukrainian capital due to Shakhtar's participation in the tournament, had booked 15 rooms in advance for his relatives. It was this seemingly routine decision that turned out to be key for one of the most famous footballers in history. According to Srna, at that time it was extremely difficult to find even a single free room in Kyiv, let alone three for the family of a Real player.
Modric's call and an unconditional decision
Before the final match, Srna received a call from his Croatian national team teammate Luka Modric. The Croat relayed an urgent request: Cristiano Ronaldo was desperately looking for three hotel rooms for his family, and the situation was becoming critical. Srna, by his own admission, "without hesitation" gave up his own booking. Moreover, he personally paid the bill for the rooms, expecting no compensation whatsoever. "Ronaldo calls: 'Thank you so much, thank you so much.' 'No problem. The bill, I say, is settled. I paid it,'" Srna recalls in his interview with Gordon, relaying the Portuguese's words of gratitude.
A touching continuation in Madrid
The story got an unexpected and touching continuation a few months later. Already in Madrid, Srna was asked to help a sick boy from Ukraine. The Croat turned to Ronaldo with a request to record a video message or gift a jersey for the child. According to Srna, the Portuguese immediately remembered the Kyiv favor and stated that he would "never forget it." Ronaldo did not stop at the minimal request: he sent a video message, gifted a ticket to a match and, according to Srna, "fully helped the child." "He did everything: sent the ticket and the video to the guy," the Croat emphasized, stressing that Ronaldo's gesture went far beyond the original request.
Context: Srna and Shakhtar in the current season
The interview in which Srna told this story came against the backdrop of a difficult period for Donetsk's Shakhtar. In other recent statements, the club's sporting director noted that the team had endured "heavy blows" related to the loss of key players, but had retained its character. Srna also stated that Shakhtar is the favorite in the fight for third place in the Champions League group stage, emphasizing the adaptation processes within the squad. Thus, the story with Ronaldo became not just a nostalgic memory, but part of a broader narrative about human connections in world football that go far beyond the playing field.
Contradictory data
No significant contradictions in the factual part of the story were found in the provided sources. All key details — the number of booked rooms (15), Modric's request, Srna paying the bill, Ronaldo's gratitude and the subsequent help to the Ukrainian child — are consistent with each other within a single source (Srna's interview with Gordon, published by Sport RBC.UA). Additional sources (ua-football.com, korrespondent.net) concern the current situation at Shakhtar and contain no data contradicting Srna's account of the 2018 events.
