Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk will trade tackles at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in a must-win UEFA Champions League fixture for the visitors.

Real Madrid followed up their embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol on Matchday 2 with a 5-0 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk to get their hopes of progressing into the Champions League knock-outs for the 25th season running back on track. Another landslide victory for Madrid could be on the cards here, considering ‘Los Merengues’ have netted a staggering average of 3.00 goals per match against Shakhtar across their five Champions League H2Hs to date. But before jumping to conclusions, Carlo Ancelotti will have to bear in mind that his men have failed to win any of their last three competitive home matches (D2, L1), drawing a blank twice in that sequence. In this regard, ‘Los Blancos’ have gone from an outstanding 27-game unbeaten home streak in the Champions League to losing three of their last eight home outings in the competition (W3, D2).

In the meantime, Shakhtar are staring in the face of adversity after being kept goalless in their opening three Champions League group stage fixtures this term (D1, L2). Trailing second-placed Madrid by five points going into this round, the Ukrainians may have to go for broke here to return in contention for a top-two finish. However, after failing to score in three consecutive away matches in the Champions League proper (D1, L2), the ‘Miners’ are going against the odds here. The one thing Shakhtar could find comforting is their impressive defensive form on the road, as they’ve kept a clean sheet in their last four road trips across all competitions (W3, D1). Another noteworthy takeaway from that four-game sequence is that they’ve netted 2+ goals on three occasions.