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Location: Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine
Kick-off: Wednesday, 1945 GMT, 2045 CET, Thursday 0115 IST
Referee: Howard Webb
In this east meets west match in the UEFA Champions League, German outfit Borussia Dortmund travel to the Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk, a side that have come into their own of late. Die Borussen will be making their fourth-longest trip (2,195 kilometres) as they travel to the Eastern European nation’s industrial heartland.
Hosts Shakhtar will be a lot rustier than their German counterparts. The Ukrainian Premier League is yet to reconvene, while the German Bundesliga resumed operations three weeks ago. Nevertheless, with Dortmund concerned over the fitness of several key players and Shakhtar boasting a full complement of players, this is a match that should be entertaining to watch.
Shakhtar Donetsk: WWWWL
Donetsk celebrates after scoring their first goal during the Champions League match between Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk
22/01/2013: Zenit St. Petersburg (A): 3-1, club friendly
25/01/2013: IFK Goteborg (H): 2-1, club friendly
28/01/2013: Rosenborg BK (H): 1-0, club friendly
31/01/2013: CSKA Moscow PFC (H): 2-0, club friendly
03/02/2013: Odd Grenland (A): 0-1, club friendly
With the Ukrainian Premier League in hibernation from the 31st of November to the first week of March, league leaders Shakhtar have been keeping their players fit with a series of friendlies against other clubs who are also currently inactive domestically.
Shakhtar have played two Russian teams in their last five matches, both of whom were beaten. After travelling to St. Petersburg and beating Russian giants Zenit 3-1, they welcomed two Scandinavian teams in Goteborg (Sweden) and Rosenborg (Norway) before sending them home with defeats – 2-1 and 1-0 – to their name.
CSKA Moscow came to the Donbass next and were dispatched 2-0 before Shakhtar slumped to 0-1 defeat away at Danish side Odd Grenland.
Dortmund, however, will prove to be a much, much sterner tests than the sides they have faced in the past month or so.
Borussia Dortmund: WWWWL
Mario Gotze (2nd L) of Borussia Dortmund celebrates with his teammates after scoring his sides second goal during the UEFA Champions League group D match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund
16/12/2012: 1899 Hoffenheim (A): 3-1, German Bundesliga
19/01/2013: SV Werder Bremen (A): 5-0, German Bundesliga
25/01/2013: 1 FC Nurnberg (H): 3-0, German Bundesliga
03/02/2013: Bayer 04 Leverkusen (A): 3-2, German Bundesliga
09/02/2013: Hamburger SV (H): 1-4, German Bundesliga
In similar form to their hosts, Dortmund have a fixture list that certainly makes for more interesting reading. A tricky trip away to Hoffenheim was safely negotiated with a 3-1 win.
Dortmund resumed their Bundesliga campaign with a 5-0 walloping of Werder Bremen on the road before stuffing Nurnberg 3-0 at the Signal Iduna Park. They also came up tops in the Westphalian Derby away to Bayer Leverkusen, claiming all three points in a frenetic 3-2 win at the Bay Arena.
But their good form was dented when they were shocked 4-1 by Hamburg in their own backyard, missing several key players due to injury.
But Dortmund can take heart from their record against Ukrainian opposition. Having faced sides from the Ukraine six times, the yellow-blacks have won five and drawn one.
Shakhtar Donetsk
When the Champions League games are played, there is a celebration in Donetsk. There are supporters who come to the game to enjoy it, and they watch the Champions League games in a nice atmosphere, in an extraordinary stadium, which for me is one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, at least in Europe.
- Razvan Rat, defender, Shakhtar Donetsk and Romania
Donetsk have no new injury concerns or suspensions ahead of their clash with Dortmund. The Ukrainians will welcome two Brazilians into the squad which will take to the field at the Donbass Arena.
The first of them will be Taison, who has joined the side from another Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv. The second, more importantly, will be Luiz Adriano, who missed the final group game against Juventus due to unsporting conduct at Nordsjaelland in his side’s fifth group game.
An injury to player from the Danish side saw Willian play a drop ball back to the Nordsjaelland keeper. Adriano intercepted the ball and rounded the keeper to tap the ball into an empty net and give Shakhtar an equaliser.
Despite being roundly booed for the incident, Adriano protested vehemently, saying he did not know a drop ball had been issued. Although he scored a hat-trick in that game and Shakhtar won 5-2, he was handed a one-match ban on the grounds of unsporting conduct by UEFA, something his club wholeheartedly supported.
Squad (from): Tomas Hubschmann, Oleksander Kucher, Taras Stepanenko, Fernandinho, Luiz Adriano, Eduardo, Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Vasyl Kobin, Marko Devic, Olexiy Gai, Douglas Costa, Alan Patrick, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mikola Ischenko, Razvan Rat, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Taison, Alex Teixeira, Andrei Pyatov (GK), Anton Kanibolotsky (GK), Darijo Srna (c), Bruno, Serhi Kryvstov, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Ilsinho
Probable Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): Pyatov; Rat, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Srna; Taison, Fernandinho, Stepanenko, Alex Teixeira; Mkhitaryan, Luiz Adriano
Borussia Dortmund
“Shakhtar haven’t been able to get into their rhythm since November. But we’ve prepared ourselves and are fully aware of the tough task that faces us tomorrow.”
- Sebastian Kehl, Captain, Borussia Dortmund
Unlike their hosts, Dortmund have fitness concerns over several key players.
Ilkay Gundogan, a player who has been integral to the German side this season, has not travelled to Eastern Europe having failed to overcome a thigh complaint. Defender Patrick Owmoyela (ankle) and Keven Gro?kreutz (infection) are already out, but questions remain over the fitness of full backs Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer.
Dortmund have also said they will appeal the red card given to Robert Lewandowski in the later stages of his side’s 4-1 defeat at home to Hamburg which sees him banned for three games, but that does not carry over into European competition.
Neven Subotic is back in contention for a starting berth.
Squad (from): Roman Weidenfeller (GK), Marc Hornschuh, Neven Subotic, Sebastian Kehl (c), Sven Bender, Moritz Leitner, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Nuri Sahin, Mitchell Langerak (GK), Oliver Kirch, Julian Scheiber, Lukasz Piszczek, Felipe Santana, Mustafa Amini, Marcel Schmelzer, Martin Bakalorz, Leonardo Bittencourt, Koray Gunter, Zlatan Alomerovic (GK)
Probable Starting Lineup (4-3-3): Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Blaszczykowski, Kehl, S. Bender; Götze, Lewandowski, Reus
Shakhtar Donetsk:
Fernandinho
With Willian having made the move to Anzhi Makhachkala over the winter, the onus of creative chief will fall on the shoulders of fellow Brazilian Fernandinho. Now in his ninth year with the Ukrainian champions, the 27-year-old will need to pick holes in the Dortmund defence for the likes of Luiz Adriano and Eduardo to latch on to.
With a powerful long-range shot and an average of a goal every five games, the vice-captain of the side is capable of inflicting serious damage to the visitors.
Borussia Dortmund:
Mario Gotze
What Fernandinho does for Shakhtar is what Gotze will do for Dortmund. Earmarked as one for the future and perfectly capable of drifting out wide in tandem with Lewandowski and Reus, Gotze is slated to be the creative fulcrum of this Dortmund side for years to come.
With 12 goals from 28 games and key players missing for the visitors, fans will be hoping Gotze puts in a masterclass performance reminiscent of two years ago with Nuri Sahin and Sebastian Kehl for company, just like old times.
Prediction
With both sides relatively inexperienced in the Champions League, it is probably the side that scores first that will go on to win the game. Shakhtar could win given their home comforts, but Dortmund are the more seasoned team and are more than capable of taking the game to the opposition and have proved extremely difficult opponents in the past. A draw seems the most likely bet.
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
