Madrid will be looking to secure their place in the Champions League round of 16 with two games to spare as they take on Shakhtar Donetsk for a second time in a week. The game will be played at the Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw (9:00pm CEST). Los Blancos won the reverse fixture last week 2-1 thanks to first half goals from Rodrygo and Vinicius. The win meant they have nine points and Shakhtar are left in second on four. Therefore, a draw or win here puts Real Madrid into the next round.
The game will be taking place in Poland on account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Carlo Ancelotti's side make the trip having beaten Getafe 1-0 at the weekend with a goal from Eder Militao in the third minute. Real Madrid currently top Group F with nine points from three matches, and a win on Tuesday will secure a spot in the round of 16.
Real Madrid will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Getafe in the league on Saturday, with Eder Militao's early header proving to be the difference between the two sides. The win moved Carlo Ancelotti's back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga, with the two teams set to lock horns in El Clasico next weekend, but Los Blancos will first be focusing on booking their spot in the knockout round of the European Cup with two games to spare.
Real Madrid opened their Group F campaign with a 3-0 victory over Celtic before beating Leipzig 2-0 at Bernabeu ahead of the 2-1 success over Shakhtar last week. Ancelotti's side will face Leipzig away and Celtic at home in their final two group games, but it is a case of when and not if the team book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League. The Whites have a busy end to October and start of November due to the season breaking for the World Cup, and Ancelotti will be hoping to continue putting wins on the board in the league and Champions League.
Shakhtar gave a good account of themselves at Bernabeu last week, but they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid, with first-half goals from Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior ultimately proving enough to secure all three points for the reigning European champions. The Ukrainian giants are still second in the section, though, boasting four points from their three matches, having opened their group-stage campaign with a 4-1 victory at Leipzig before drawing 1-1 with Celtic.
Shakhtar would be vulnerable if they did lose this match, but they could still qualify for the next round of the competition by picking up positive results in their final two fixtures against Celtic and Leipzig. Shakhtar have not reached the knockout round of the Champions League since the 2017-18 campaign, when they were beaten by Roma in the round of 16, and they finished fourth in their group last term, which also included Real Madrid.
The arrival: Real Madrid was in Warsaw on Monday at noon. The Whites' travelling party, made up of this squad of players, departed from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport bound for the Polish capital, where Shakhtar play their Champions League home games. The team touched down following a flight of just over three and a half hours. They then made their way to the Sheraton Grand Warsaw hotel, where they will be based for the Champions League group stage matchday four fixture and also met many fans and supporters upon their arrival.
The Boss Carlo Ancelotti already named his squad for this match.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Lunin, Luis López and Cañizares.
Defenders: Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Rüdiger and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Camavinga, Valverde, Lucas V. and Tchouameni.
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Mariano.
There has not been a game for the Ukrainian side since their visit to the Bernabeu last week, which means that their starting line-up is expected to be largely the same. It seems likely that Real Madrid will not risk Militao as he was suffering from muscle spasms after the Getafe match. The Brazilian will start from the bench and will be hardly used during the game. Thibaut Courtois will be left out due to the back problem to give him a few more days to be ready for El Clasico. Karim Benzema was rested against Getafe, which means he should be leading the line here, meanwhile Vini Jr may start from the bench.
As for the referee, Orel Grinfeeld has been appointed to officiate the clash with Shakhtar Donetsk's on the matchday four. The Israeli referee will take charge of our team in the competition for the third time. The first came at the Santiago Bernabéu against Viktoria Plzeň in the 2018/19 Group Stage, ending in a 2-1 madridista win. The second was Real Madrid's trip to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Group Stage in 2020, which finished 2-2.
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