Shakhtar Donetsk starts the return of the eighth finals of the Europa League against VfL Wolfsburg with a 1-2 lead. The club from Ukraine has good papers for a place in the last eight, although one will have to be on the ball. You have only won from Germans when they are back home in the players’ bus!
Shakhtar Donetsk:
Shakhtar Donetsk surprised in the first leg, which was played on March 12. The orange blacks took advantage of the fact that VfL Wolfsburg did not have the support of its own fans in its own Volkswagen Arena – they played in empty stands. Shakhtar was the (slightly) better team, so there was not much to haggle on the victory. Brazilian midfielder Marcos Antonio was the best man on the field. He made the winning 1-2 a quarter of an hour before time.
The selection of Shakhtar has long consisted of a combination of Brazilians and local players. That is no different this season. On Thursday, the home team will probably kick off six Brazilian players. Marlos and Junior Moraes have been playing in Ukraine for so long that they even have a passport from that country. The former played seventeen international matches for Ukraine.
Well before the end of the competition, the team of trainer Luis Castro seized the league title – the fourth in a row. In the remainder of the competition, the Portuguese trainer could experiment here and there with his line-up. However, there will be no room for experiments on Wednesday – Shakhtar will undoubtedly perform in its strongest possible position.
Wolfsburg:
VfL Wolfsburg has not made it easy for itself by losing the first leg 1-2. The defeat for Die Wölfe in March came unexpectedly, because the Germans were working on an excellent series at the time. In the first game against Shakhtar, however, it never happened for Wout Weghorst and his teammates. After the restart of the league, Wolfsburg had a clear mission: to secure European football. Coach Oliver Glasner’s team performed erratically, missing out on direct placement for next season’s Europa League. They finished seventh. That place was good for a place in the preliminaries of the second European club tournament.
Shakhtar is a strong team with a lot of international experience. They are regular customers in the Champions League, ‘Glasner said at the Tuesday press conference. “But in the first leg we had our chances and we could become dangerous,” said the coach, who did not want to know anything about tactics other than the usual ones. “Basically we play every game for the win. That we already know that we have to score at least twice does not change our way of playing. ‘ The Bundesliga has already ended for some time – at the end of June, the green and white played their last official game. To get some racing rhythm, there was a practice against RB Leipzig last weekend. That game ended in a 1-1 draw.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,56
