Shakhtar Donetsk - Werder Bremen, UEFA Cup final
Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey (live)
Mircea Lucescu brings Shakhtar Donetsk to Istanbul aiming to help his club become the first ever Ukrainian side to win the UEFA Cup.
Certainly Donetsk are in uncharted territory; they have never before gone past the last 16 of the tournament and Wednesday’s game will be their first major European final.However, having already beaten the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, CSKA Moscow, Marseille and Dynamo Kiev, Lucescu’s side will head to the final with plenty of confidence.Donetsk will also be boosted by the fact that they are currently on an excellent run of form.
Although they have missed out on the domestic league title, they have won their last six league games and will hope to make amends by ending the season with the UEFA Cup.Despite their inexperience at this stage of the competition the eastern Europeans certainly possess plenty of attacking flair and more than enough quality in their squad to worry the Germans.
Shakhtar are a team filled with samba style in the shape of Brazilians Ilsinho, Fernandinho, Luiz Adriano, Jadson and Willian; and with a solid defence behind them they will prove a stern test for the boys from the Bundesliga.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile, will be confident of becoming the first German side in eight years to claim a European title (since Bayern Munich lifted the Champions League in 2001).Despite enduring a disappointing season in the Bundesliga where they currently lie tenth, the Green-Whites have the possibility of ending the campaign with a cup double.
Thomas Schaaf’s men will play Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Cup final on May 30 and will hope to travel to Berlin having already bagged the UEFA Cup.Certainly having already despatched the likes of AC Milan, St Etienne, Udinese and compatriots SV Hamburg to reach the final, Bremen will be confident they can take the final step required to bring them their first European title since winning the Cup Winners Cup in 1992.However, Schaaf does have problems going in to the game with a number of key players missing.
Bremen’s inspiration and top scorer in the competition, Diego, is banned, as is striker Hugo Almeida.Injury also rules out Per Mertesacker yet Werder do have strength in depth and will look to Claudio Pizarro, Markus Rosenberg and bright young thing Mesut Ozil for inspiration
Shakhtar Donetsk
May 16: Zorya 0-3 Shakhtar Donetsk
May 10: Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 Kharkiv
May 3: Kryvbas 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Apr 25: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Chornomorets Odesa
Apr 19: Metalurh Donetsk 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Werder Bremen
May 16: Werder Bremen 1-3 Karlsruhe
May 13: Eintracht 0-5 Werder Bremen
May 10: Werder Bremen 2-0 Hamburg
May 3: Koln 1-0 Werder Bremen
Apr 25: Werder Bremen 3-2 Bochum
Shakhtar Donetsk
Tomas Hubschmann is suspended for the final but Olexandr Kucher should return.
Possible Starting XI: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Chigrinskiy, Rat, Gai, Duljaj, Ilsinho, Jadson, Fernandinho, Luiz Adriano
Werder Bremen
Diego and Hugo Almeida are both banned whilst Per Mertesacker will miss the game through injury.Naldo, Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg should be fit but Frank Baumann is a doubt with a groin strain.
Possible Starting XI: Wiese, Fritz, Prodl, Naldo, Boenisch, Frings, Baumann, Niemeyer, Ozil, Pizarro, Rosenberg
My bet: without Diego i think it will be very hard for Werder. Shakhtar to win the cup is the best bet
Mircea Lucescu brings Shakhtar Donetsk to Istanbul aiming to help his club become the first ever Ukrainian side to win the UEFA Cup.
Certainly Donetsk are in uncharted territory; they have never before gone past the last 16 of the tournament and Wednesday’s game will be their first major European final.However, having already beaten the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, CSKA Moscow, Marseille and Dynamo Kiev, Lucescu’s side will head to the final with plenty of confidence.Donetsk will also be boosted by the fact that they are currently on an excellent run of form.
Although they have missed out on the domestic league title, they have won their last six league games and will hope to make amends by ending the season with the UEFA Cup.Despite their inexperience at this stage of the competition the eastern Europeans certainly possess plenty of attacking flair and more than enough quality in their squad to worry the Germans.
Shakhtar are a team filled with samba style in the shape of Brazilians Ilsinho, Fernandinho, Luiz Adriano, Jadson and Willian; and with a solid defence behind them they will prove a stern test for the boys from the Bundesliga.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile, will be confident of becoming the first German side in eight years to claim a European title (since Bayern Munich lifted the Champions League in 2001).Despite enduring a disappointing season in the Bundesliga where they currently lie tenth, the Green-Whites have the possibility of ending the campaign with a cup double.
Thomas Schaaf’s men will play Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Cup final on May 30 and will hope to travel to Berlin having already bagged the UEFA Cup.Certainly having already despatched the likes of AC Milan, St Etienne, Udinese and compatriots SV Hamburg to reach the final, Bremen will be confident they can take the final step required to bring them their first European title since winning the Cup Winners Cup in 1992.However, Schaaf does have problems going in to the game with a number of key players missing.
Bremen’s inspiration and top scorer in the competition, Diego, is banned, as is striker Hugo Almeida.Injury also rules out Per Mertesacker yet Werder do have strength in depth and will look to Claudio Pizarro, Markus Rosenberg and bright young thing Mesut Ozil for inspiration
Shakhtar Donetsk
May 16: Zorya 0-3 Shakhtar Donetsk
May 10: Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 Kharkiv
May 3: Kryvbas 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Apr 25: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Chornomorets Odesa
Apr 19: Metalurh Donetsk 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Werder Bremen
May 16: Werder Bremen 1-3 Karlsruhe
May 13: Eintracht 0-5 Werder Bremen
May 10: Werder Bremen 2-0 Hamburg
May 3: Koln 1-0 Werder Bremen
Apr 25: Werder Bremen 3-2 Bochum
Shakhtar Donetsk
Tomas Hubschmann is suspended for the final but Olexandr Kucher should return.
Possible Starting XI: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Chigrinskiy, Rat, Gai, Duljaj, Ilsinho, Jadson, Fernandinho, Luiz Adriano
Werder Bremen
Diego and Hugo Almeida are both banned whilst Per Mertesacker will miss the game through injury.Naldo, Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg should be fit but Frank Baumann is a doubt with a groin strain.
Possible Starting XI: Wiese, Fritz, Prodl, Naldo, Boenisch, Frings, Baumann, Niemeyer, Ozil, Pizarro, Rosenberg
My bet: without Diego i think it will be very hard for Werder. Shakhtar to win the cup is the best bet
posted by Midnight Sun @ 14:25,
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