Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Predictions & Match Preview

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid predictions and match preview for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as Los Blancos return to Ukraine for the second season running.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Preview

Real Madrid have a chance for revenge on a team that caused them all sorts of problems in last season’s Champions League. Shakhtar Donetsk won home and away against Los Blancos in the group stage and won’t fear another meeting here.

While they are under new management, Real Madrid’s UCL campaign so far already feels reminiscent of last season. They started with victory in a tough fixture away to Inter before slipping to a shock defeat at home to Moldovan champions Sheriff. Real Madrid certainly should have taken something from that game and they head into this game under a bit more pressure than they’d have liked as a result, although Carlo Ancelotti’s men still ought to progress from this position.

This will be Real Madrid’s first game in 16 days since a 2-1 defeat at Espanyol in LaLiga. The weekend rest will have helped them prepare for this after their league game was called off due to the late finish to the qualifiers in South America last week. However Madrid are still dealing with a number of injury problems with the likes of Eden Hazard, Isco, Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal all sidelined. They should though be able to count on the experience of their first choice midfield trio with Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luke Modric all expected to start.

Shakhtar stunned Los Blancos in last season’s competition and having picked up just 1 point from their opening 2 group games, they really need to win at least one of the meetings in this double header with the sides also clashing on MD4 in a fortnight in Madrid. Shakhtar started with a 2-0 defeat away to Sheriff before holding Inter to a 0-0 draw at home in their last outing.

They’ve had two league games since then including the key domestic clash with Dynamo Kiev which also ended goalless. They sit 2nd in their league, 3 points behind Dynamo, and will be hoping to at least take 3rd in this group which would mean Europa League football in the new year. Real Madrid will have a pretty good idea of what to expect from a team that is packed full of Brazilians with no fewer than 11 in the current Shakhtar first team squad.

Head to Head

• Last 4 Competitive Meetings: 2 Shakhtar Wins, 2 Real Madrid Wins.
• Shakhtar Donetsk won both meetings last season, with a 2-0 victory in Kiev following a 3-2 win in Spain.
• The sides also met in the group stage in 2015/16 with Madrid recording 4-0 and 4-3 wins.

Team News

Junior Moraes is the only definite absentee for the hosts.

Eden Hazard, Isco, Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal are notable injury absentees for Real Madrid. Eder Militão and Marco Asensio are also notable doubts.

Predicted Shakhtar Donetsk Starting Lineup:

Pyatov – Ismaily, Matvienko, Santos, Dodo – Stepanenko – Solomon, Patrick, Maycon, Pedrinho – Fernando (4-1-4-1)

Predicted Real Madrid Starting Lineup:

Courtois – Gutierrez, Alaba, Nacho, Valverde – Modric, Casemiro, Kroos – Vini, Benzema, Rodrygo (4-3-3)

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Predictions

Score Prediction: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid have a large number of absentees but they do have their strongest midfield combination while Karim Benzema and Vini Junior are both fit and fresh and should cause problems in the final third. Los Blancos ought to get something from the game.

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