Shakhtar Donetsk are hoping for a football miracle on Tuesday.
They need to beat Barcelona, universally lauded as the best club side in the world right now, by at least a four-goal margin in order to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said that "Barcelona are already in the semi-finals" after his defensively feeble side had been trounced 5-1 in the first leg in Barcelona last Wednesday.
But most of his players seem not to agree with their Romanian coach.
Goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov - who looked distinctly shaky in the first leg - said on Sunday. "Miracles sometimes happen, in life and in football. Maybe one will happen on Tuesday."
And forward Jadson said: "The fans here are great, and I'm sure they'll really get behind us. If we manage to score an early goal, then anything could happen really."
The Brazilian striker added: "Nobody expected us to win the UEFA Cup two years ago - but that was exactly what we ended up doing."
Jadson, who scored the winner against Werder Bremen in that 2009 final, is one of six Brazilians in the Shakhtar squad. He accepted, on Sunday, that he and his compatriots have a special responsibility at the club.
"We Brazilians make up around half of the midfielders and strikers in the squad," he said, "so therefore it is us who need to take the initiative against Barcelona."
Coach Lucescu will have to improvise a makeshift defence, because Darijo Srna and Dmytro Chygrinskiy are both injured, and Razvan Rat is suspended.
On Saturday Donetsk surprisngly lost 1-0 at home against Obolon, but are still well on course to retain their Ukranian league title.
Barcelona will go to the Donbass Arena hoping for a relaxed night, with their minds on next week's clashes against historic rivals Real Madrid.
They will be without injury victims Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol and Bojan, as well as the suspended Andres Iniesta.
Coach Pep Guardiola will be tempted to rest the likes of Xavi, Lionel Messi and Dani Alves, with the upcoming clashes against Real in mind.
They need to beat Barcelona, universally lauded as the best club side in the world right now, by at least a four-goal margin in order to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said that "Barcelona are already in the semi-finals" after his defensively feeble side had been trounced 5-1 in the first leg in Barcelona last Wednesday.
But most of his players seem not to agree with their Romanian coach.
Goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov - who looked distinctly shaky in the first leg - said on Sunday. "Miracles sometimes happen, in life and in football. Maybe one will happen on Tuesday."
And forward Jadson said: "The fans here are great, and I'm sure they'll really get behind us. If we manage to score an early goal, then anything could happen really."
The Brazilian striker added: "Nobody expected us to win the UEFA Cup two years ago - but that was exactly what we ended up doing."
Jadson, who scored the winner against Werder Bremen in that 2009 final, is one of six Brazilians in the Shakhtar squad. He accepted, on Sunday, that he and his compatriots have a special responsibility at the club.
"We Brazilians make up around half of the midfielders and strikers in the squad," he said, "so therefore it is us who need to take the initiative against Barcelona."
Coach Lucescu will have to improvise a makeshift defence, because Darijo Srna and Dmytro Chygrinskiy are both injured, and Razvan Rat is suspended.
On Saturday Donetsk surprisngly lost 1-0 at home against Obolon, but are still well on course to retain their Ukranian league title.
Barcelona will go to the Donbass Arena hoping for a relaxed night, with their minds on next week's clashes against historic rivals Real Madrid.
They will be without injury victims Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol and Bojan, as well as the suspended Andres Iniesta.
Coach Pep Guardiola will be tempted to rest the likes of Xavi, Lionel Messi and Dani Alves, with the upcoming clashes against Real in mind.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire