“Shakhtar to play a decisive match against Borussia Dortmund: what is needed to advance

The Miners  will face Borussia Dortmund. Bookmakers and experts have the Germans as favorites. However, Shakhtar need to win and do so in a convincing manner, UNN reports.

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Shakhtar Donetsk may  end its fight in the Champions League. The Miners will play the eighth game in the most prestigious tournament in Europe. Our team flew to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund. The Germans are ranked 14th in the Euroleague and have almost secured their passage to the next round, with 12 points from seven games. "Shakhtar is 27th among 36 teams with 10 points. In order to continue the fight, the miners have to enter at least the  list of the top 24 teams. It will be extremely difficult to do so.

The new format of the Champions League

To understand the significance of Shakhtar's last game in the main round of the Champions League, it is necessary to recall the new and unusual format of this tournament. Previously, 32 teams were divided into 8 groups of 4 each. Two teams reached the playoffs. Now the system has changed radically. Now 36 clubs play in the European Championship. There are no quartets, there is only one big table. Each team plays 8 matches. The draw determines who they play against, away or at home. As we have already written, the first 24 clubs move on. Eight of them go straight to the last sixteen of the playoffs, while the last sixteen play head-to-head matches to determine the second eight. So, if the Miners make it to the next round, they will have to sweat out two more matches to get to, let's say, the "final playoffs." The system is undoubtedly complicated. However, all Shakhtar need to do is beat Borussia and do it with a crushing score.

Will Shakhtar win?

The results of the season's matches are the most important indicator of the team's fitness. The miners are in third place in the Ukrainian championship. Out of 16 matches played, they have 10 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws. They are 10 points behind the leader Dynamo, but have a game in hand. The miners also continue to compete in the Ukrainian Cup. The team has to face Oleksandriya in the last four of the final. Things are not going so well in the Champions League.

The tournament started with a zero-zero draw against Italian side Bologna. The next match was lost 0:3 to Atalanta. The third round and again a 0-1 loss to London's Arsenal. Next came a 2-1 victory against Swiss side Young Boys, a 2-3 defeat to Dutch side PSV, and another 2-0 victory over French side Brest. In total, Marino Pušić's men won 2 matches, lost 4 and drew one. However, among the defeats, only Atalanta was really "no chance". The rest of the games were competitive.

Borussia Dortmund is not playing consistently in the national championship. It ranks 11th among 18 clubs. Borussia has only 7 wins out of 19 matches played, 7 defeats and 5 draws. Dortmund lost their last game to Frankfurt - 0: 2. In the national cup, Mike Tullberg's men were eliminated in the second round.  In the Champions League, the Germans are doing relatively better.

In the first round, they defeated Belgian Brugge 3-0.  In the second round, they simply took out the Scottish Celtic 7-0. The third match and the first leg of the program was lost to Real Madrid - 2:5. In the fourth round, Borussia celebrated a minimal 0:1. Next up: a 0-3 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, a 2-3 defeat to Barcelona, and an unexpected 1-2 defeat to Bologna. Therefore, Borussia won 4 games out of seven and lost three.

So, based on the statistics, Shakhtar can win against Borussia. There is every chance of that happening. However, to move on, the score must be at least 3-0. Our team must score four, five or even six goals. On top of that, the teams that are  from 22nd to 24th place in the standings must also lose by big scores. We will find out whether the desired will come true or whether Shakhtar will continue to fight on January 29 at 22:00.