A quick look at Shakhtar Donetsk

A quick look at Shakhtar Donetsk

Our next two Champions League matches are against Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine. First, we travel to Ukraine on Tuesday to face them in the Donbass Arena and then the return home tie will be held 15 days later. As such, this is the perfect time to have a quick look at some of their key players and their form in both their League and the Champions League. 

Players to look out for:

Darijo Srna - Can operate as a right-back or a right-midfielder. Captain of Shakhtar Donetsk and Croatia and is a dead ball specialist. Without a doubt one of their star players. 

Willian - Winger who was linked with a move to Chelsea for the last few transfer windows. Full of pace and trickery, he can be very dangerous on occasions and will be one of their biggest threats.

Chygrynskiy - 25 year old centre back who has played for Ukraine 29 times. He was signed by Barcelona in 2009 for whopping price of around £20 million. Despite flopping at Barca, one cannot doubt his ability. 

Mkhitaryan - 23 year old attacking midfielder who has scored 156 goals in as many games. Shakhtar's top scorer this season. Definitely one of Shakhtar's biggest goal threats. 

Douglas Costa - Promising young Brazilian midfielder who operates as an attacking midfielder. He was previously linked to many Premier League clubs, but a move failed to materialize. 

Fernandinho - Another Brazilian in this team, a defensive midfielder who has represented his country 5 times. He is known for breaking up the opposition play and scoring goals from long distances on occasion. 

Luiz Adriano - 25 year old Brazilian striker in his 7th season with Shakhtar. Prolific goal-scorer in the Ukrainian league in recent years. Quick and powerful player who will be a menace for the Chelsea defence. 

The current champions of the Ukrainian Premier League have started their defence in tremendous form winning 12 out of 12 league games this season. In doing so, they’ve scored 38 goals and only conceded 6. This isn’t a surprise considering Shakhtar’s dominance in the league in recent seasons.

Shakhtar currently have 4 points of 6 in Group E of the Champions League. They won their first game against Nordsjælland 2-0 with both goals coming from Mkhitaryan. Then they faced a tougher opponent in the form of Juventus and drew 1-1 in a game in which they lead the Italian champions at one point. Chelsea are level on points with Shakhtar and will hope to get an advantage over them after these two games. However, don't expect the match to be an easy one. 

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