Tuesday 8th March 2011, 7.45pm GMT (live on Sky Sports 4)
Roma visit Donetsk tomorrow in an effort to overturn the 3-2 defeat they suffered in the first leg of this tie at the Stadio Olimpico. Former player Vincenzo Montella is in charge this time, following the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri two weeks ago.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu is expecting a difficult challenge from his teams Italian opponents: “They need to score, and naturally they will be playing attacking football.” The Ukranians resumed their domestic league campaign on Friday after the winter break with a 1-0 win at Sevastopol, while Roma nicked a slightly fortuitous 2-1 win at Lecce in their last game on the same day.
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Shakhtar have won all three of their home games in the group stages of the Champions League, and this will be their first ever home knockout game in this competition. Indeed, they boast an unbeaten record in their last eleven home European games.
Roma will have to make do without the services of Brazilian striker Adriano, who has been sidelined for some time due to a shoulder injury. Marco Cassetti is suspended, as is Jeremy Menez who scored the most impressive of the first legs five goals. Centre-back Olexandr Kucher and midfielder Fernandinho have both been ruled out for Shakhtar due to injury.
The current Roma side have looked a shadow of the team which almost won the Scudetto last year. This is the most crucial week of their season so far, as they will face city rivals Lazio in Serie A immediately after the visit to Ukraine. The change of coach was obviously an effort to turn their domestic and Champions League fortunes around, but there is little evidence of an immediate improvement and progress in the Champions League may be too big a task for the relatively inexperienced 36-year-old Montella.
A draw will suffice for Shakhtar on the day, but I fancy their chances of going through in style by winning another European game at home.
Prediction – Shakhtar Donetsk to win – 5pts
Match odds: Shakhtar Donetsk evens
Draw 13/5
Roma 11/4
