Shakhtar Donetsk hosts AS Roma in the second leg of the Europa League 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Thursday, March 18th at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium (Kyiv)
Shakhtar beat Maccabi Tel Aviv twice in the UEFA Europa League 1/16 finals, but then the Miners gave their fans too many disappointments. The team lost to Zorya in the championship and sensationally left the national cup in the quarterfinal stage, losing to the representative of the lower division. Beyond that, the Orange-and-Blacks suffered a major defeat from Roma in the first leg of the 1/8 finals (3-0). 60% of ball possession turned out to be unnecessary, as the Ukrainians looked faded in the attack. It will be extremely difficult to win back in a home match. Moreover, Luis Castro again cannot count on the main person in the midfield - Taras Stepanenko is still injured.
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The teams will start the return leg in different moods. If Shakhtar destroyed Desna in the UPL at the weekend (4-0, and Tete and Solomon scored a double each), Roma interrupted its 3-match winning streak. After a confident victory over the Ukrainians in the Europa League, Paulo Fonseca's men unexpectedly lost to Parma in the Italian championship (2-0). A quick goal in the 9th minute broke all plans for the Wolves, and a penalty kick at the beginning of the second half buried all their chances of earning at least one point.
We expect a scoring match. Shakhtar has nothing to lose. When the fans come to the stadium, the team will run forward, and the Brazilians will turn on the maximum speed to try to make a comeback. Considering that a young goalkeeper mans the sticks of Shakhtar, and the defense cannot be called reliable, Roma can easily take advantage of quick counterattacks and mistakes of the defensive line. In the first leg, the Romans scored three goals with ease. And we expect at least three goals in the return game. The hosts are obliged to attack, and the visitors will wait for their chance.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.25 goals scored
