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Bayern Munich’s rise towards the top eight of the UEFA Champions League continues on Tuesday against Shakhtar Donetsk at Schalke 04’s VELTINS-Arena. The Ukrainian giants play their domestic home games in Lviv, but have found a home in Germany for European encounters due to Russia’s ongoing conflict against Ukraine.
Hirnyky squandered a 2-0 lead against PSV Eindhoven and lost 3-2 to the Dutch team late on, while Marino Pusic’s side are third in the national standings, four points behind Dynamo Kiev. In Europe, Shakhtar have won three of their four most recent UCL matches when playing at home, with seven wins from eight in Ukraine when at home.
Bayern defeated Heidenheim in the Bundesliga this weekend after dropping out of the DFB Pokal against Bayer Leverkusen last week. Vincent Kompany’s men lead the German top flight with 33 points out of a possible 39 and are leading the way in both attack and defence. A strong recent run has coincided with an upturn in Champions League form, including a win over Paris Saint-Germain, but they are winless in five away games in Europe with four losses in that time.
Here are our storylines, how to watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday December 10 | Time: 3:00 PM ET
- Location: VELTINS-Arena – Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- Watch: Biggest+
- Chances: Shaktar +2000; Sign +700; Bavaria -700
Competition phase so far
The Ukrainian hosts are in 26th place with four points after five matchdays in Europe’s premier competition, losing 3–2 to PSV Eindhoven on November 27, while the Bavarians are in 13th place with nine points and beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0. November 26. The Bavarians are just one point clear of eighth-placed Monaco, who occupy the last automatic qualifying spot for the Champions League round of 16, and they are in fact just three points clear of third-placed Barcelona.
Team news
Shaktar: Pedrinho and Pedro Henrique are both suspended, while Dmytro Riznyk could have a four-man defense of Irakli Azarovi, Mykola Matviyenko, Valeriy Bondar and Yukhym Konoplya in front of him. Without Pedrinho, Oleksandr Zubkov, Danylo Sikan and Kevin will likely be the attacking unit selected by Pusic here.
Possible Shaktar XI: Riznyk; Konoplia, Bondar, Matviyenko, Azarovi; Bondarenko, Kryskiv, Sudakov; Zubkov, Sikan, Kevin.
Bavaria: Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic and Manuel Neuer are all out. Kompany is allowed in the back with Sacha Boey, Dayot Upamecano, Kim Min-jae and Raphael Guerreiro with Sven Ulreich in goal. Joao Palhinha, Harry Kane and Kingsley Coman are all there, so Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane and Thomas Muller should be in attack with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka in midfield.
Possible Bayern XI: Neuer; Boey, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Sane; Müller.
Prediction
Even without Kane and a few other regulars, Bayern should win this one quite easily and take another step towards the knockout stages against a Shakhtar team that is logically a fading force given the difficult current circumstances. Choose: Shaktar 0, Bayern 3