UEFA Champions League – Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celtic – Preview

Shakhtar Donetsk face Celtic in Group F on Wednesday in a game which will take place at the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Despite a bright start, Celtic were beaten 3-0 by reigning champions Real Madrid while Shakhtar pulled off a stunning 4-1 away victory over RB Leipzig which cost Dominic Tedesco his job. 

It wasn’t so long ago (July, to be precise) that Ukrainian side Shakhtar were demanding 50m euros in damages from FIFA over lost transfer fees.

Shakhtar have been regulars in the UEFA Champions League for a number of years now, and argue they missed out on four transfer fees following FIFA’s decision that players could suspend their contracts following Russia’s invasion.

Despite this turbulent buildup to Shakhtar’s Champions League campaign, it couldn’t have started any better.

Igor Jovicevic’s side were seen as the underdogs heading to RB Leipzig and pulled off a sensational result in their opening match. Goals from Marian Shved (2), Mykhaylo Mudryk and Lassina Traore propelled the side to an eye-catching 4-1 victory.

Club Director and former Croatian international Darijo Srna has compared 21-year-old Mudryk, a rumoured transfer target of Arsenal, to the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr:

“Mudryk is the best player in Europe in this position after Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. After Mbappe and Vinicius, I don’t see a third player other than Mudryk in this position in Europe. Mudryk has crazy potential.”

Shakhtar will once again be playing away from home, as has been the case since May 2014. The difference being to previous years, the Ukrainian side will now have to play in Poland and entirely miss out on any form of home advantage.

A win over Celtic would go a long way to securing