Stadion Wojska Polskiego, the home of Legia Warsaw, forms the backdrop as Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid go head-to-head in a high-stakes Champions League fixture.
Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior scored inside the opening half an hour to fire Madrid to a 2-1 win over the Ukrainian heavyweights at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.
After winning their first three Group F fixtures, the reigning Champions League holders can qualify for the round of 16 with two games to spare should they beat Shakhtar again.
Carlo Ancelotti handed his talismanic striker Karim Benzema a much-needed rest in Madrid’s hard-earned 1-0 La Liga victory away to Getafe at the weekend.
Last season’s Champions League top goalscorer should regain his place at the heart of Los Blancos’ attack in Poland, which is not what Shakhtar would want to hear ahead of this mammoth task.
Igor Jovicevic’s men will take the field fresh and ready to claim their revenge after the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the postponement of their weekend match-up against Lviv.
Unfortunately for the Serbian tactician, his lads have lost momentum following a 4-1 romping of RB Leipzig in their curtain-raising Group F outing, going winless in the next two (D1, L1).
The Ukrainians still enter this round as runners-up in this section, but Leipzig or Celtic could dethrone them come Tuesday, providing their upcoming clash yield a winner and Shakhtar lose here.
Match Preview
Shakhtar Donestk
Shakhtar’s bid to progress beyond the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2017/18 is at stake, but there’s not much they can hold onto here.
Indeed, the only side to defeat the Miners in a Champions League game in which they were the designated hosts since November 2020 was Los Blancos, who humbled them 5-0 in Kyiv last term.
They have racked up two wins and four draaws across their six remaining such fixtures during that span, so there’s hope for the Ukrainian champions they can pull off an upset here.
Real Madrid
Madrid’s high-flying European streak of five straight Champions League victories may dampen Shakhtar’s enthusiasm, with Los Merengues enjoying their longest winning run in the tournament since 2015.
On top of that, Ancelotti’s men have strung together four successive away wins in the Champions League group stages without conceding, last winning five on the trot seven years ago under the Italian manager.
However, the Spaniards should avoid tucking themselves in a false sense of security, as they’ve only won once across two three previous Champions League road trips to meet Shakhtar (L1).
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Potential Line-ups
Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1-4-1): Anatoliy Trubin; Lucas Taylor, Valeriy Bondar, Mykola Matviyenko, Yukhym Konoplya; Taras Stepanenko; Marian Shved, Artem Bondarenko, Herohiy Sudakov, Mykhaylo Mudryk; Oleksandr Zubkov.
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Andriy Lunin; Lucas Vazquez, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Toni Kroos; Rodrygo, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
How to Watch?
Shakhtar vs Madrid, alongside all other matches in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this season, is available to watch online via Champions League live streams.
And if you are interested in attending a future Champions League game, see our Champions League tickets page for more information.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Prediction
Los Merengues are currently miles ahead of all other Group F participants, and it’s hard to see them not taking home all three points from Warsaw.
With Benzema still vying for his Champions League opener, we expect Madrid to replicate last week’s inspiring performance and put a couple of goals past Shakhtar.
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-3 Real Madrid
