Shakhtar Donetsk take on Celtic in Group F of the Champions League on Wednesday, with the game taking place at the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw due to the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine.
Shakhtar recorded an impressive 4-1 win away to RB Leipzig last week, while Celtic were beaten 3-0 by the reigning champions Real Madrid.
Match preview
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Given the amount of key players Shakhtar have lost as a partial consequence of the war, their thrashing of Leipzig came as a shock to many observers, while providing a huge lift to everyone connected to the club.
Maryan Shved robbed Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulasci of the ball and prodded into an empty net to provide the visitors with a half-time lead, which had come almost completely against the run of play, before the winger restored Shakhtar's lead less than 60 seconds after Mohamed Simakan had levelled the proceedings in the 57th minute.
With the Germans pushing for another equaliser, Mykhaylo Mudryk and substitute Lassina Traore capitalised on increasingly open spaces in behind their opponents' high defensive line to add gloss to a notable victory, especially given the circumstances in their home country.
Shakhtar are used to playing away from home by now, of course, having been unable to play at the Donbass Arena since May 2014 after Russia's first offensive movements in the region. However, having previously relocated to Lviv, Kharkiv and Kiev, they are now forced to play abroad entirely, with each of those regions considered too unsafe to host football matches in major UEFA competitions.
How they adapt to their surroundings in Warsaw could prove crucial to determining their chances of progressing from the group stage for the first time since 2018. Should they beat Celtic on Wednesday to move onto six points, they will have a great chance of achieving that against all the odds.
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Celtic, meanwhile, are competing in the Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, having fallen in the qualifying rounds in each of the four seasons in between.
However, with Scotland's coefficient rising, The Hoops automatically qualified for the group stage as a result of reclaiming their Scottish Premiership title from Rangers last season.
As such, last week's visit of 14-time champions Real Madrid at Celtic Park was a tremendous spectacle, particularly as it came only three days after Ange Postecoglou's side had drubbed their fiercest rivals 4-0 at the same ground.
The Scottish champions clearly took confidence from this to look the more impressive team during the early stages against Real, with Callum McGregor rattling the woodwork with a superb strike from distance, before Daizen Maeda squandered a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock only moments after the half-time interval.
However, perhaps such a huge occasion came too quickly after their all-important league clash against Rangers, as they visibly tired with Real wrestling control of the match as they so often do with their patient possession game. Vinicius Junior, Luke Modric and substitute Eden Hazard all got themselves on the scoresheet to make for a rather harsh scoreline in the end.
The unfortunate defeat places huge pressure on Celtic to return from Poland with a positive result, otherwise they could be staring down the barrel at their European campaign becoming something of a damp squib even at this early stage in the competition.
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Team News
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Shakhtar will remain without full-back Viktor Kornienko, who is not expected to return until next year after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture.
Head coach Igor Jovicevic is unlikely to make any changes from the starting XI which swept Leipzig away last week, with Traore likely to be called upon to make an impact from the bench once again.
Celtic, meanwhile, are expected to travel to Poland without Yosuke Ideguchi and Carl Starfelt due to injuries.
Having had the weekend off due to the Queen's death, fatigue should not be an issue for the visitors, with Postecoglou potentially restoring Kyogo Furuhashi to the team at the expense of Giorgos Giakoumakis in attack.
Shakhtar Donetsk possible starting lineup:
Trubin; L Taylor, Bondar, Matviyenko, Konoplya; Bondarenko, Stepanenko, Sudakov; Shved, Zubkov, Mudryk
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, G Taylor; O'Riley, McGregor, Hatate; Abada, Furuhashi, Jota
We say: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-2 Celtic
We expect to see a reaction from the visitors, who produced some excellent football at times despite ultimately falling short against Real Madrid.
This match is essentially being played on neutral territory, which could help Postecoglou's side settle down and play their usual slick style of play, especially with Shakhtar unlikely to reproduce yet another remarkable performance.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
