Second placed Shakhtar will welcome Real Madrid to their adopted home ground at the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw, Poland.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has punctuated football activities within Ukraine and the league football has been suspended indefinitely.
Irrespective of their inactivity at home, Shakhtar are currently placed second in a group which also contains RB Leipzig and Celtic.
A win for Real Madrid will confirm their qualification to the knockout stages while a shock win for the Ukrainians will consolidate their grip on second place.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s players will not have the full complement of their fans thus making the fixture looking like a game played on a neutral ground.
The Ukrainians know they have nothing to lose but they will want to give a war-torn nation something to cheer on. Igor Jovicevic, coach of Shakhtar has showered encomiums on his players over their courage in going ahead with the competition.
Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that his top striker Karim Benzema will start tonight’s game but has casts doubts on the involvement of Vinícius Júnior because of the amount of games he has played so far.
The odds are in favour of the European champions to win but a shock from the Ukrainians is not impossible.
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