16th February 2011, 7.45pm GMT (live on Setanta Irl, Sky Sports 2)
This game marks Shakhtar Donetsk’s debut appearance in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Considering the fact that they are coached by former Inter boss Mircea Lucescu, this encounter with an Italian side will hold no mystery for the 2009 UEFA Cup winners. Match practice and conditioning may be a worry however, as their domestic season finished in November and has yet to resume.
Roma are in the midst of their season, but things haven’t been going too smoothly for them in Serie A of late. In qualifying for this competition last season, they finished second in the league, and pushed champions Inter all the way. As things stand Roma sit in eighth place, 13 points behind the leaders. Coach Claudio Raneiri has publicly stated that he believes he has the backing of his players ahead of this crucial tie, an indication of the weight of expectation at Roma.
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| Lucescu hopes for a successful return to Italy |
Roma have now gone three games without a win, conceding six goals in the process. They lacked any sign of a cutting edge in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Napoli. The Giallorossi’s problems in this department will be compounded further by the absence of their top scorer Marco Borriello due to a muscular injury. Francesco Totti is likely to start in his absence, but his only match practice since returning from a bout of flu was a few minutes at the end of the Napoli game. Shakhtar centre-back Olexandr Kucher will also miss out due to a knee injury.
The last time these sides met at the Olimpico was when Roma beat Shakhtar 4-0 in the 2006-2007 group stages of this competition. Lucescu believes they have learned from those mistakes: “The Roma fans create a certain pressure on opponents, but also on their own team.” If things are not going Roma’s way this is often the case, and Shakhtar’s fluid, attacking style will cause problems for this Roma defence. Provided they can shake off the rust, the Ukranians could easily cause an upset tomorrow, and I expect them to avoid defeat in Rome.
Prediction – Shakhtar +1 – 3pts
Match Odds: Roma 10/11
Draw 12/5
Shakhtar 16/5
Shakhtar +1 4/5
