Last chance saloon for Shakhtar against Malmö
Monday, November 2, 2015
Article summary
Shakhtar hoped to make life tough for Real Madrid and Paris in Group A, but three games in and they failed to make an impression even on Malmö. Only a win will do on Tuesday.
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Article body
- Mircea Lucescu says his Brazilian players must be strong in the tackle
- If Shakhtar lose or if both Group A games are drawn, their last-16 hopes are over
- Outgoing champions Malmö finished the Swedish season fifth on Saturday
- Shakhtar's Alex Teixeira has scored 13 goals in his last ten appearances
- Malmö ended a run of six group stage defeats with win against Shakhtar a fortnight ago
Possible lineup
Shakhtar: Kanibolotskiy; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Azevedo; Stepanenko, Fred, Marlos, Bernard; Alex Teixeira; Gladkiy.
Out: none
Doubtful: Pyatov (knee), Kucher (unspecified)
Malmö: Wiland; Tinnerholm, Bengtsson, Árnason, Konate; Eikrem, Adu, Lewicki, Berget; Rosenberg, Djurdjić.
Out: Azinovic (knee), Molins (knee)
Doubtful: Djurdjić (groin), Rodić (groin)
Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
Malmö have missed out on even the Europa League in their league campaign, so this will probably be the match of the year for them: a positive result will see them continue in Europe this season. But we are eager to avenge our defeat in Sweden. We have learned from our mistakes.
Motivation is key because in the first game we subconsciously thought that we had three points in the bag. We were too relaxed and content with the fact we could control the game. We will try to play faster. Our Brazilian players have to be more aggressive in the tackle.
Åge Hareide, Malmö coach
I expect Shakhtar will attack with all they have to score a goal. We saw how they played in Sweden and this time they probably have to take more risks. We will concentrate on our defence, but if we can make good transitions to attack it will make it much harder for Shakhtar.
Everybody expects action in the boxes and I think we will see a lot of it. I was in Lviv with Helsingborg in 1999 [in the UEFA Cup] and we won that tie against Karpaty on penalties [after two 1-1 draws] so I hope avoiding defeat in Lviv can become a good tradition for me.
Weekend results
Zorya 1-7 Shakhtar (Kamenyuka 67pen; Fred 39, Stepanenko 47 90+4, Alex Teixeira 58 70, Eduardo 75 86)
Alex Teixeira took his goal tally to 18 in 12 Premier-Liha games as Shakhtar cruised to a seventh straight top-flight success at fourth-placed Zorya. Fred opened the floodgates before second-half doubles from Taras Stepanenko, Alex and substitute Eduardo. Giorgi Arabidze, 17, made his league debut.
Malmö 0-2 Norrköping (Kujovic 30, Traustason 90+3)
The deposed Swedish champions ended the 2015 Allsvenskan fifth after defeat by Norrköping, who succeed Malmö as title holders. Strikes by Emir Kujovic and Arnór Ingvi Traustason secured the visitors their first crown since 1989 ahead of IFK Göteborg.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Shakhtar: WWLWWL
Malmö: LWWWLL
Reporter's view: Lyubomyr Kuzmyak
This fixture is decisive for Shakhtar, whose reversal in Sweden cast into doubt even their minimum goal – reaching the UEFA Europa League. The Pitmen had promised to make life tough for Group A's big guns, Real Madrid and Paris, but instead they are without a point and even a goal halfway through the group stage. Shakhtar's great domestic form means there is still hope, though.
Did you know?
Darijo Srna was the match winner for Croatia against Sweden in both qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored in 1-0 successes in Gothenburg on 8 September 2004 and in Zagreb on 8 October 2005; find out more in our extensive match background.