Borussia Dortmund vs. Shakhtar Donetsk: Complete Champions League Preview

Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways over the weekend, beating 10th-place Hannover, 3-1, to keep their narrow advantage over Bayer Leverkusen in the race, finishing second behind Bundesliga champions-elect Bayern Munich.

The victory was only their second in six matches in all competitions but couldn’t have come at a more important time. With their league and domestic cup ambitions having evaporated, the Champions League represents Dortmund’s only chance at silverware this season, and the positive result will have only served them well ahead of the second leg of their Round of 16 tie with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Shakhtar, meanwhile, were back underway in the Ukrainian Premier League on Friday and picked up where they left off in November (the UPL takes a three-month winter break) with a 4-1 home win against Volyn. They’re 13 points clear of second-place Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk after 19 rounds and are into the quarterfinals of the domestic cup as well.

Shakhtar played seven friendly matches in January and February in preparation for the Champions League Round of 16 and, not surprisingly, won every single one of them. They arrive in Germany for Tuesday’s contest unbeaten in their last 11 matches—a streak that includes both their friendly results and a 2-2 draw at home to Dortmund in the first leg of this tie.

And so, with Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk level at two goals apiece following the first 90 minutes of their Champions League encounter, we have a tie quivering delicately on a knife’s edge.

The following slideshow continues our preview of what promises to be a fascinating second leg and offers the relevant team news, matchups to watch and projections to have you good and ready for Tuesday’s kickoff.

First Leg: Shakhtar 2-2 Dortmund

February 13, Donbass Arena, Donetsk

Borussia Dortmund twice fought back from a goal down to earn an important draw—and two vital away goals—against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg in eastern Ukraine.

Shakhtar captain Darijo Srna opened the scoring for the hosts just after the half-hour mark with a free-kick that evaded both the wall and Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, but 10 minutes later Robert Lewandowski had restored level terms after getting a second crack at a loose ball following his initial miss.

Douglas Costa, having been introduced as a substitute only moments earlier, had Shakhtar back in front in the 68th minute after a failed clearance from Marcel Schmelzer, and just when the hosts thought they might have done enough to claim the win, Dortmund defender Mats Hummels popped up with a headed goal from Schmelzer’s corner with three minutes to play.

Team News

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp rested right-back Lukasz Piszczek and playmaker Mario Gotze against Hannover, and both will be recalled into his starting XI to face Shakhtar.

Klopp’s only concern involves defender Mats Hummels, who has been suffering from a bout of flu. The 24-year-old was replaced by Felipe Santana at the weekend but is widely expected to be well enough to retake his place in the centre of defense on Tuesday.

On the other side of the ball, Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu will be able to start the same XI he named in the first leg should he so choose. He has no injuries or suspensions to worry about.

January signing Taison started ahead of fellow Brazilian Douglas Costa on February 13 and caused all sorts of problems for Dortmund’s right flank, so he is likely to play from the beginning again. And defender Oleksandr Kucher may have done well enough at the weekend to keep his place ahead of Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

Key Matchup

So much of what Dortmund create going forward comes from their right flank, where right-back Lukasz Piszczek and winger Jakub Blaszczykowski—fellow Poland internationals—have a dynamic partnership.

Incidentally, Shakhtar rely heavily on left-back Razvan Rat and either Taison or Douglas Costa to create opportunities from their left-hand side.

See the problem?

Either one of these two tandems will win the matchup, and likely the match, or they’ll simply cancel each other out, which is what happened in the first leg.

In any event, the folks who have their tickets along that side at the Westfalenstadion will no doubt be treated to quite the show.

Projected Lineups

Projected Dortmund XI (4-2-3-1)

Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gundogan, Bender; Blaszczykowski, Gotze, Reus; Lewandowski

Projected Shakhtar XI (4-2-3-1)

Pyatov; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Rat; Mubschman, Fernandinho; Teixeira, Mkhitaryan, Taison; Luiz Adriano

Prediction

Both sides are going to score, and so it becomes a matter of Shakhtar outscoring their hosts or earning a ridiculous high-scoring draw in order to progress.

Neither scenario is very likely.

Dortmund have been a different animal in the Champions League than they are domestically, where they have had their struggles; they made the European Cup their primary target when their season began back in August.

Shakhtar, to their credit, are good enough to beat many of the sides remaining in the Champions League, but Dortmund—particularly a Dortmund with nothing else to play for—isn’t one of them.

Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk

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