Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Nov 24, 2015 @ 01:58 am

Next Wednesday, 25th of November 2015, the ten time European champions Real Madrid will travel to the Ukraine to measure forces with Shakhtar Donetsk at Arena Lviv, in the western part of the country, for the fifth match of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage.

There is something rotten in the Merengues’ kingdom and things have deteriorated even further after last weekend’s embarrassing home defeat at the expense of their eternal rivals FC Barcelona. After another bland overall performance, Real Madrid ended up being defeated 4-0 by a confident Catalan team that managed to pull up an historical win at the Spanish capital.

Real Madrid seemed once again to be a disheartened team against FC Barcelona and their last two La Liga’s results show that something is definitely not right at the heart of the team. Seven goals conceded in just two matches are certainly not a trademark from a team that want to regain La Liga’s title and aspires to win the UEFA Champions League once again.

At the end of last weekend’s match, several media sources reported that Rafa Benitez was on his way out of Madrid first thing in the next morning; nevertheless, the team’s President, Florentino Perez, backed his head coach in a press conference that took place last Monday. Los Merengues’ upcoming match at the Ukraine will surely not be an easy one, especially if we consider Shakhtar’s recent form in both domestic and international competitions.

The Ukrainian side is on the third place of their UEFA Champions League group with just three points. One win in four matches is definitely not good for a team such as Lucescu’s Shakhtar, but their recent five consecutive wins indicate that the Miners might be recovering from a somewhat slow start this season.

Shakhtar Donetsk are in the first place of the Ukraine’s Pari-Match League with 37 points from 14 matches played so far. The Donbass region team has the exact same points of their closest rivals and current champions, Dynamo Kyiv, but a considerably impressive goal difference at the moment.

The team’s captain Darijo Srna and the Ukrainian international Oleksandr Kucher are currently suspended and will miss next time out.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Stats: W-5 L-0 D-0

Recent Form - WWDWD

Real Madrid

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-0

Recent Form - LLWWW

Possible Line-ups 

Shakhtar Donetsk (4-2-3-1) - Pyatov - Ismaily - Rakitsky - Ordets - Azevedo - Stepanenko - Fred - Marlos - Teixeira - Bernard - Gladkiy

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1) – Navas - Carvajal - Pepe - Varane - Arbeloa - Casemiro - Modric - Bale - James Rodriguez - Ronaldo - Benzema

Injury List / Suspended Players

Shakhtar Donetsk - Srna (sus) - Kucher (sus)

Real Madrid - Marcelo (inj) - Mayoral (inj)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions