Shakhtar Donetsk – Barcelona Champions League preview

By: sasha | September 30th, 2008

Football powerhouse Barcelona visits Shakhtar Donetsk in a Champions League match later today. Following a good performance by Dynamo Kyiv in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe in which they fought to a scoreless draw, Mircea Lucescu will be looking to continue the formidable play of Ukrainian clubs in European competition.

Barcelona enters the match with a series of positive performances with a heavy emphasis on attacking Football. Shakhtar Donetsk has had a very difficult time in league play, particularly scoring goals but Mircea Lucescu insists they will have a special motivation for the Champions League match:

“There is a big difference between league games and Champions League matches.”

However league play has been anything but reassuring and they will need intense home support today:

“Criticism is what we get but we need support, especially on the eve of our first Champions League home game. We have won all three matches in European competition and I don’t think we deserve that much criticism. Today we badly need support and love from our fans.”

Both clubs are reasonably healthy with only modest new concerns. Shakhtar has key man Răzvan Raţ, which could be the tipping point in defending the attack of Barcelona. Luiz Adriano and Brandão must shake off their goal scoring deficit. While it is unclear whether he will be given the nod, Yevhen Seleznyov should be given the opportunity to shine at Striker and lead the club forward.

Enjoy the match and support our team!

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