Barcelona take on the visitors Shakhtar Donetsk in the round 3 match of UEFA Champions League group stage. The match will be played on Wednesday, October 25th at Camp Nou (Barcelona).
Despite all their problems in the previous season, including the Neymar case, the Blaugrana managed to break free from their prolonged slump. They won a couple of trophies, including the Primera Liga. However, in the Champions League, under Xavi and his team, they embarrassingly finished in 3rd place in their group, missing out on the playoffs once again. They certainly don't want to repeat that third round. In principle, it's unlikely, but it's still too early to relax – they might be able to secure their spot after their matches with the Orange-Blacks. They approached these games with a perfect record. First, the favorite crushed Antwerp 5-0 at home, and then secured a win against experienced Porto with a single goal away.
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Shakhtar (Donetsk) changed coaches twice in a couple of months. The Miners pleasantly surprised in the previous season. The team, which had lost nearly all its foreign players, clinched 3rd place in their Champions League group, beating RB Leipzig, narrowly missing victory against Real Madrid at the last moment, and drawing twice against Celtic. After moving to the Europa League, Ukraine's best club defeated Rennes and drew against Feyenoord, but then suffered a crushing 0-7 defeat in Rotterdam, which led to the end of that coach's tenure. He was replaced by Van Leuven during the offseason, who had previously worked as the academy director for the Orange-Blacks and had performed well with Zorya the previous season. However, Van Leuven's return did not go as planned, especially in the Champions League. His team genuinely lost their nominally home match against Porto in Hamburg. They then conceded 0-2 in Antwerp, and only incredible luck and the Belgians' glaring mistakes led to a 3-2 victory for the visitors. But this couldn't save Patrick from a quick dismissal. Now, Srna will try his hand at coaching. He is undoubtedly a legend but lacks the relevant coaching experience.
The sides played each other in the Champions League (and once in the UEFA Super Cup) in 7 matches between 2004 and 2011. The best Miners could achieve was winning twice in the final group stage match against a non-motivated opponent. In the summer of 2009, they conceded only in overtime. Blues and Claret are, of course, considered the unconditional favorites. However, the Orange-Blacks, who consistently concede goals, typically respond. We'll bet on both teams to score in this match.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score – yes.
