Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Real Madrid will enter Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk knowing that a victory would see them qualify for the knockout round of the competition with two games to spare.
Los Blancos are top of Group F with nine points to show from their opening three matches, while Shakhtar are second in the section on four points, one point ahead of third-placed RB Leipzig.
Match preview
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Shakhtar gave a good account of themselves at Bernabeu last week, but they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid, with first-half goals from Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior ultimately proving enough to secure all three points for the reigning European champions.
The Ukrainian giants are still second in the section, though, boasting four points from their three matches, having opened their group-stage campaign with a 4-1 victory at Leipzig before drawing 1-1 with Celtic.
Shakhtar would be vulnerable if they did lose this match, but they could still qualify for the next round of the competition by picking up positive results in their final two fixtures against Celtic and Leipzig.
Igor Jovicevic‘s side have not been in action since the clash in Madrid last week, with their last league game taking place on October 1 against Metalist Kharkiv, recording a 6-1 win, which has left them in second spot in the table.
Shakhtar have not reached the knockout round of the Champions League since the 2017-18 campaign, when they were beaten by Roma in the round of 16, and they finished fourth in their group last term, which also included Real Madrid.
Real Madrid will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Getafe in the league on Saturday, with Eder Militao‘s early header proving to be the difference between the two sides.
The win moved Carlo Ancelotti‘s back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga, with the two teams set to lock horns in El Clasico next weekend, but Los Blancos will first be focusing on booking their spot in the knockout round of the European Cup with two games to spare.
Real Madrid opened their Group F campaign with a 3-0 victory over Celtic before beating Leipzig 2-0 at Bernabeu ahead of the 2-1 success over Shakhtar last week.
Ancelotti’s side will face Leipzig away and Celtic at home in their final two group games, but it is a case of when and not if the team book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League.
Real Madrid, as mentioned, also locked horns with Shakhtar in last season’s European Cup, recording a 5-0 victory away before running out 2-1 winners in front of their own supporters.
The Whites have a busy end to October and start of November due to the season breaking for the World Cup, and Ancelotti will be hoping to continue putting wins on the board in the league and Champions League.
Shakhtar Donetsk Champions League form:
Shakhtar Donetsk form (all competitions):
Real Madrid Champions League form:
Real Madrid form (all competitions):
Team News
Shakhtar have not been in action since the clash at Bernabeu, and the majority of players that took to the field for that match are set to keep their spots here.
Oleksandr Zubkov was on the scoresheet last week and will again lead the line, with the in-demand Mykhailo Mudryk featuring off the left for the Ukrainian giants.
Viktor Kornienko is Shakhtar’s only absentee with a long-term knee problem, and it is likely to again be a 4-1-4-1 formation, with the experienced Taras Stepanenko tasked with stopping the supply into the away side’s forwards.
As for Real Madrid, Ancelotti said after the game with Getafe that Militao was suffering with “muscle spasms”, so the Brazilian is unlikely to be risked for this match, with Antonio Rudiger set to start in central defence.
Thibaut Courtois could also be left out due to a back problem, with his return likely to come in El Clasico, while Dani Ceballos remains on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.
Karim Benzema was rested against Getafe but should be back in the side here, while there could be starts for Lucas Vazquez and Eduardo Camavinga as Ancelotti prepares to rotate ahead of the Barcelona clash.
Shakhtar Donetsk possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Taylor, Bondar, Matviyenko, Konoplya; Stepanenko; Shved, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Mudryk; Zubkov
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Vazquez, Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius
We say: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-2 Real Madrid
Shakhtar were impressive in the clash at Bernabeu last week and will fancy their chances of causing problems on Tuesday night. Ancelotti is set to make some changes for this contest, but we are still expecting the European champions to be too strong for their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.