Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille

A place in the Europa League last-16 is up for grabs as Shakhtar Donetsk and Marseille go head-to-head in the first leg of their knockout playoff tie at the Volksparkstadion.

Shakhtar Donetsk’s dismal Champions League group stage campaign proved they’re terminally unable to secure springtime fixtures at Europe’s top table after a sixth consecutive failed attempt to reach the knockouts. Demoted to the Europa League knockout playoff round for the second season on the trot, the Ukrainians are keen to replicate last season’s success when they ousted Marseille’s fellow Ligue 1 rivals Rennes. Despite still playing their ‘home’ matches in Germany, the ‘Miners’ are traditionally formidable hosts, as evidenced by their decent-looking eight-game home form in continental action (W3, D3, L2). Moreover, they’ve usually excelled against French visitors, losing just one of the nine previous European clashes against Ligue 1 sides they’ve hosted (W4, D4, L1).

Meanwhile, Marseille might consider returning to European duties a welcome distraction amid an underwhelming run of one win from their last seven matches (D4, L2), not least because it was a narrow 1-0 triumph against fifth-tier Thionville in the Coupe de France. With Gennaro Gattuso’s managerial future at the Stade Velodrome hanging by a thread after a 1-1 home draw against Ligue 1 relegation fighters Metz at the weekend, ‘Les Olympiens’ cannot afford another slip-up. However, that’s a huge ask, considering they’ve claimed just two wins on their last eight European travels (D1, L5). What’s more, they’ve never won an away match against Ukrainian opposition (D2, L1).