Braga out to make amends against Shakhtar

SC Braga aim to bounce back from their 6-0 loss at Arsenal FC with victory against FC Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday but coach Domingos Paciência is well aware of the strength of the Ukrainian titleholders who  opened their Group H campaign with victory against FK Partizan. Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu, meanwhile, insists the pressure will be on the Portuguese side as they target their first points in the section.

Domingos Paciência, Braga coach
Shakhtar are not an easy team, and anyone who knows about football knows they have great quality in their squad, with many creative Brazilian players in midfield and up front. They're champions of Ukraine and it's not easy to do that, therefore we know the difficulties we can expect.

If we analyse the first match against Arsenal, it's obvious nobody is satisfied and we know we have to change a lot and project another image to our fans. Braga will play like they always play, always pushing for a goal and well organised in defence. Shakhtar also have their weak points that we want to exploit.

Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
I didn't know SC Braga, but I watched three of their games, against Sevilla, Porto and Arsenal. Against the English side, Braga played nothing like they had against Porto and Sevilla. Each game has its own story, Braga are at home and have their fans behind them. It's a decisive match for Braga but not for us because we won our first game.

Braga are used to playing here and know what they have to do. They have experience and know how to prepare. We will play the same way as always and we won't play defensively. A team that wins the number of championships we have doesn't play defensively. They are a very offensive team and are great on the counterattack, which we will focus on stopping.

Team news
• Braga
Alberto Rodríguez missed the 3-1 win at home to A. Naval 1º Maio on Saturday after picking up a thigh injury against FC Paços de Ferreira. Quim ruptured his right Achilles tendon in pre-season training and is expected to be out until the new year.

• Shakhtar
Fernandinho is expected to miss the group stage after breaking his right leg against FC Obolon Kyiv. Dmytro Chygrynskiy pulled his hamstring against FC Illychivets Mariupil on 29 August and has not featured since.

Weekend results
24/09/10 Braga 3-1 A. Naval 1˚ Maio
(Mossoró 27, Orestes og 51, Paulo César 81; Fábio Júnior 90)
Mossoró opened the scoring on his first league appearance since fracturing his right leg against SL Benfica in March. Léo Fortunato came on to make his Braga debut. Braga have won 17 of their 18 home league matches under Domingos Paciência.

25/09/10 FC Metalist Kharkiv 1-2 Shakhtar
(Taison 56; Eduardo 72, Mkhitaryan 90+4)
Armenian midfielder Henrik Mkhitaryan's second goal in as many league games helped Shakhtar to a 12th victory in 14 outings this term.

Did you know?
While Braga have never before crossed paths with a team from Ukraine, Shakhtar – who are in their sixth UEFA Champions League campaign and aiming to advance from the group stage for the first time – have won two of their four games in Portugal.

For more information see the match background.