Shakhtar Donetsk is lucky heading into Tuesday's match against Nordsjaelland.
The Ukrainian leaders have no choice but to win only to secure a spot in the Round of 16 for the first time in two years. Fortunately, they get to take on the worst team in the group. The match will be difficult as they will be on the road but their performances thus far have proven that they are more than up to the challenge.
In their last UCL match to Chelsea they showed resilience and managed to come back two times just moments after falling behind. The last time they took on Nordsjaelland, they took them down 2-0 on home field with two goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan. More important of all is that this team has won all 15 matches in the Ukrainian League with 45 goals scored and just six allowed.
Nordsjaelland's UCL performance has been nightmarish at best as the Danish side has scored one goal, allowed 11, and only has one point for all their struggled. They managed a draw to Juventus, but were subsequently dispatched 4-0 by the same side and are in ardent need of two wins, and two Juventus losses to even hope at sniffing the Europa League Round of 32. They have no hope of making it past the group stage in the UCL.
Prediction: Shakhtar Donetsk will be excited to play this match and the energy should translate to an easy win. 3-0 Shakhtar.
Start Time: 2:45 PM EST
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