Shakhtar Donetsk, who still harbor hopes of UEFA Champions League elimination, host Barcelona in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday in what could be their last chance to springboard into a competitive position in Group H.
The Ukrainian club troubled an injury-ravaged Barcelona two weeks ago but failed to make the necessary comeback and were unable to overcome Barcelona’s two first-half goals in a 2-1 defeat.
Nevertheless, Barcelona have made a big recovery since that game, with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Pedri now fit after missing out on that game.
Barca top the table with a perfect nine points from three games, while Shakhtar are third with just three points. With Porto in second place with six points and set to face last-placed Royal Antwerp, Shakhtar may need to pull off a famous upset win here to have any chance of challenging Porto for second place in the qualifiers.
Shakhtar Donetsk projected starting lineup (4-1-4-1):
Riznyk (GK) — Konoplia, Bondar, Matviyenko, Rakiskiy — Stepanenko — Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Kryskiv — Sikan.
Barcelona projected starting lineup (4-3-3):
ter Stegen (GK) — Cancelo, Christensen, Kounde, Balde — Pedri, Gundogan, Gavi — Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix.