MADRID, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Shakhtar Donetsk captain Taras Stepanenko and the Ukrainian side's goalkeeping coach visited an injured Ukrainian soldier recovering at a Barcelona clinic ahead of their Champions League fixture in the northeastern Spanish city. Shakhtar decided to pay for his transfer to Barcelona's Guttmann Brain Health Institute, where he is undergoing a long neurorehabilitation process. I really wanted to cry, because when you see him, he is a really strong guy who protect(ed) our country," Stepanenko told Reuters. In the five months that Shumei has been in Barcelona, his condition has improved significantly, Shakhtar said in a statement, especially after doctors performed a complex brain surgery in June. Shakhtar face Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

---

Persons: Taras Stepanenko, Vitaly Shumei, Stepanenko, Shumei, Sergio Albu, Andriy Pyatov, Shumei's, Serhiy, Albert Gea, David Latona, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukrainian, Champions League, Shakhtar, Brain Health, Reuters, Barcelona, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Barcelona, Spanish, Donbass