Shakhtar Donetsk take on the visitors Lech in the second leg of UEFA Conference League round of 1/8-finals. First leg result: 3-1. The match will be played on Thursday, March 19th at Synerise Arena - Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana (Kraków).
Shakhtar Donetsk have long been regarded as the main football force in Ukraine. But last season was a complete failure by their standards: for the first time in more than two decades they dropped below even 2nd place. Recently Shakhtar have shown signs of improvement in domestic competitions, gradually regaining confidence and climbing back toward the top of the table. Their results in recent matches suggest the team is stabilizing after a difficult period and is once again capable of controlling games. Of course, the coach was changed, and not everything has worked out for Arda Turan. Already in the summer he was eliminated from the Europa League with his new team — after comfortably passing Ilves and even Beşiktaş, they failed to score against Panathinaikos and, after two goalless draws, lost on penalties. Then came a cup defeat to Dynamo Kyiv, and in the Ukrainian Premier League they went into the long winter break not as leaders. However, by spring they still managed to climb to 1st place. That will obviously be the main priority — they want to return to the Champions League. Meanwhile, in the Conference League, much of the experience is being gained by reserves and young Brazilian players. And it has worked: they passed Servette in qualification (snatching a late win in Switzerland after a draw in the nominal home match). Then in the main round, despite a loss to Legia Warsaw and a goalless draw with Rijeka in the final round, they won all the other matches. As a result, they advanced directly to the Round of 16.
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Lech Poznań are fighting on two fronts. The Railwaymen reclaimed the championship title after a three-year break — their 9th such triumph. Now they have a chance to retain the lead in the Ekstraklasa, although Jagiellonia Białystok and Zagłębie Lubin are putting strong pressure on them. Recently Lech have also shown mixed results, alternating victories with setbacks, which reflects the difficulty of balancing domestic and international competitions. Their away performances, in particular, have lacked consistency, making it harder to secure stable results in key matches. On the international stage, however, the Poles initially disappointed. In the Champions League, after beating Breiðablik twice, they lost to the more experienced Red Star Belgrade. In the Europa League their campaign was even shorter — they suffered a heavy defeat to Genk right away. They were not particularly impressive in this competition either, but three wins and 10 points were enough to reach the playoffs. There in February they comfortably beat KuPS twice without conceding — 2–0 and 1–0. Then in Poznań they tried to get back into the game after conceding twice, but ultimately lost 1–3.
Since 2019 the clubs have played four friendly matches. The Miners won three of them, and one ended in a draw. The Miners are unlikely to allow their opponent to have the last word. The expectation is another victory for the hosts.
Prediction for the match: Shakhtar to win.
