Preview: Porto v Shakhtar Donetsk
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Article summary
FC Porto and FC Shakhtar Donetsk are sure to finish first and second in Group H, but Julen Lopetegui says the "biggest competition in the world" is motivation enough.
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Article body
• Julen Lopetegui primes Porto to face "one of the best attacking lines in Europe"
• Porto are already confirmed in top spot in Group H, and Shakhtar in second
• The Dragons are the only unbeaten team in the Portuguese Liga this season
• Porto have won seven of their last eight games, drawing the other
• Shakhtar have scored 33 goals in their last ten matches
Permutations: Porto (13pts) v Shakhtar (8)
• Porto have clinched first place.
• Shakhtar will definitely finish second.
Possible lineups
Porto: Andrés Fernández; Ricardo, Marcano, Maicon, Alex Sandro; Rúben Neves, Quintero, Evandro; Quaresma, Aboubakar, Adrián López.
• Doubtful: Casemiro (muscle fatigue), Danilo (knock)
Shakhtar: Pyatov; Ilsinho, Kryvtsov, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Stepanenko, Douglas Costa, Fernando, Alex Teixeira, Bernard; Gladkiy.
• Out: Luiz Adriano (suspended), Kucher (suspended), Srna (suspended)
• Doubtful: Azevedo (knee)
Julen Lopetegui, Porto coach
The most important thing is that this will be a Champions League match against a great team. The biggest motivation comes from the players themselves – I know they love these games. I'm sure it will be a great game, with a decent crowd. We are talking about the biggest competition in the world, so we will approach the game with that in mind.
Tomorrow's team will be the one we think is the best to play against Shakhtar. The president is always welcome in our training sessions, he is always close to us.
I think Shakhtar have one of the best attacking lines in Europe – they can beat any team. All of their best players are travelling and that shows the huge motivation they also have for this match.
Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
I'm hoping tomorrow's game is high on quality. The fans and players will make it work; it will certainly be a good, open game to watch. The absent players are not so important. More relevant are the lineups that will be out on the pitch, because Porto are also leaving out some important players.
Weekend results
A. Académica de Coimbra 0-3 Porto (Martínez 13 24, Herrera 47)
Shakhtar 4-1 FC Hoverla Uzhhorod (Gladkiy 20 80, Khomin og 32, Fred 90+4; Myakushko 49)
Form guide (all competitions)
Porto: WWWDWW
Shakhtar: WWLWDW
Match facts
• What was the score when Porto played Shakhtar's domestic rivals FC Dynamo Kyiv at home in the 2012/13 group stage? Find out in our match background.
