Shakhtar Donetsk – Wolfsburg

The Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk probably surprised a lot of people when they beat Wolfsburg in the first 1/8-finals game from Europa League back in March. Shakhtar graced the pitch at the Volkswagen Arena and celebrated a 2-1 win which is getting them closer to the competition’s 1/4-finals. Could Wolfsburg answer to this challenge?

When you beat a German team on its own land it’s always a big achievement. The Ukrainians did this with a lot of confidence. Junior Moraes opened the score for the visitors, but John Brooks equalised for Wolfsburg. The Wolves were beaten in the 73th minute when Marcos Antonio scored the winner for Shakhtar.

Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian Premier League for a fourth consecutive time, but they are now hungry for European success as well. Reaching the 1/4-finals of Europa League would be a great step for the club. And you can be sure that they wouldn’t want to stop there.

As for Wolfsburg they are aware that their pride was hurt when they lost at home. The German clubs are always motivated to go as far as possible in Europe, so don’t write them off just yet. Wolfsburg are one of the capable teams in the Bundesliga, so it remains to be seen how they will react to this result in the second leg.

Wolfsburg tried to keep their match fitness few days ago when they faced RB Leipzig in a friendly game. The match ended with both teams scoring once – 1-1.

In conclusion we should admit that Shakhtar Donetsk are the team with an advantage in this game. We wouldn’t dare to write Wolfsburg’s chances off, but the Germans are in a difficult situation. Now the manager Oliver Glasner must come with a master plan how to get his team out of this situation.