The Champions League is back with Bayern Munich travelling to Shakhtar Donetsk
Soccer fans around the world can rest easy as the Uefa Champions League is back in action today with two games from the round of 16. PSG are at home to Chelsea while Bayern Munich are away to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
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The German side are heavily favored against Shakhtar who are currently second in the Ukrainian league. I think it’s fair to say that the Ukrainian league isn’t the most competitive in Europe, so if Shakhtar can’t top their domestic league they don’t stand much chance of coming out on top against one of the best teams Europe have ever seen.
Bayern are in incredible form domestically, scoring freely and topping the table by eight points. They are all but certain to win their domestic league, and are hotly tipped to win their domestic cup and challenge for the Champions League trophy.
The German side are tied favorites with Real Madrid as the bookies favorites to win out the entire competition, that doesn’t bode well for Shakhtar who are expected to struggle.
The team from Ukraine have one thing going for them, and that’s the fact they have the competitions leading scorer Luiz Adriano leading their attack. The striker has been in hot form, but he hasn’t come up against a goalkeeper as good as Bayern’s Manuel Neuer.
When you add up the Bundesliga and the Champions League Bayern Munich’s record stands at 20 wins, 2 losses, 4 draws, 71 goals scored and only 13 goals conceded.
Here are the team’s starting line up:
Shakhtar Donetsk-
Shakhtar XI to play Bayern: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk, Fred, Fernando, Costa, Teixeira, Taison, Adriano. #SkyCL
— SkySportsCL (@SkySportsCL) February 17, 2015
Bayern Munich:
Bayern XI to play Shakhtar: Neuer, Alonso, Ribéry, Robben, Rafinha, Boateng, Bernat, Götze, Müller, Alaba, Schweinsteiger #SkyCL
— SkySportsCL (@SkySportsCL) February 17, 2015
H/T Skysports
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