Yaroslav Rakitskyi

2009–10 season

He moved up to the first team during the 2009–10 season, making his debut, at the age of 20, in a 6–1 Ukrainian Cup win against Dnister Ovidiopol (now called FC Odesa). He made his league debut for the club 16 days later, coming as a substitute on 31 August in a 3–1 victory over Zorya Luhansk. His first goal for Shakhtar came in the following round of the Ukrainian Cup in a 3–1 victory over Yednist' Plysky. He also set up the third goal of the match for Oleksandr Gladkiy. Rakytskiy scored his second goal of the season in a 4–1 group stage win over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League. He ended his first season in the Shakhtar first team with 37 appearances, of which 24 came in the league, and 2 goals. He picked his first trophy at Shakhtar, with the team winning the league.

2010–11 season

Rakytskiy started the 2010–11 with success in the Super Cup as Shakhtar comprehensively defeated Tavriya 7–1. His first league goal came in a 3–1 victory over Kryvbas on 10 July 2010. He also scored Shakhtar's only goal in a 6–1 aggregate lose to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final, scoring in the 5–1 first leg defeat at Camp Nou. He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Ukrainian Cup win over Dynamo Kyiv. He made a total of 34 appearances in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice as Shakhtar retained the Premier League title.

2011–12 season

Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season.On 29 October Yaroslav picked up a red card in a 3–2 victory over Oleksandria, after receiving two yellow cards.His first goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at the Donbass Arena on 7 April. He scored another goal a few weeks later in a 3–1 victory over Tavriya. He finished the season with 2 goals in 37 appearances, 27 of which were in the league. Shakhtar won the Premier League title for the third year in a row and also retained the Ukrainian Cup in a 2–1 extra time victory over Metalurh Donetsk. Oleksandr Kucher scored the winning goal, after a rebound from Rakytskiy's shot.

2012–13 season

He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk on 10 July, keeping a clean sheet. He managed clean sheets in a 6–0 win against Arsenal Kyiv on 15 July, a 1–0 victory over Kryvbas on 29 July and a 4–0 win over Volyn Lutsk on 6 September. On 26 August he assisted Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the third goal in a 3–0 victory over Karpaty Lviv and kept a clean sheet. and was named Man of the Match. On 15 September he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against Zorya Luhansk.

2017–18 season

He scored in the final as Shakhtar beat rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Cup final.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 28 January 2019, he signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Some Ukrainians have derided Rakitskyi as a "traitor" for moving to the Russian league, as Zenit are based in Russia and the War in Donbas was ongoing, despite the fact that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, another famous Ukrainian footballer, is also working as assistant manager for Zenit.

His move to Russia during the war led to him being stopped from being called up to the national team, which led to his official retirement from international football.

He became a starting player for Zenit, and a favourite of the fans, who made positive songs about him.[26] He also became one of the leaders of the Russian league in accuracy of passes.

At the end of the 2019–20 season, he was voted by the league players as the 8th best player in the league, and number one in his position.

For his time in Zenit, Rakitsky was praised for his versatility in the defence and for his help to the attack.