Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City match preview. The city has gone out in the last 16 and quarter-finals of the competition in the Spaniard’s two seasons in charge. “It’s one important thing to win this kind of title, you have to be pushed,” said Guardiola, 47.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his side “are not ready” to win the Champions League, claiming “the feeling” from their fans that the team must win the competition is missing. “Not just by the manager, by everyone surrounding Manchester City.” He added: “And still we don’t have that feeling, the feeling that the fans are pushing that we have to win the Champions League.”
The city was knocked out of the Champions League by Monaco in Guardiola’s first campaign in charge then by Liverpool in the last eight last season. In their latest campaign, they go into Tuesday’s game at Shakhtar Donetsk second in Group F with three points from two games.
“We are going to put in all effort to win this competition, but from what I saw last season we are not ready, that’s what I feel,” said Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barcelona. “That doesn’t mean we are not going to try.”
TEAM NEWS
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker is in contention to play in Ukraine having recovered from a groin injury. The right-back missed Saturday’s 5-0 win over Burnley with the problem.
“If they are here it is because they are ready to play,” said Guardiola. Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan remains unavailable because of a hamstring problem and Brazil full-back Danilo is also sidelined having injured an ankle on international duty.
The two sides meet in the groups stages of the competition for the second consecutive season and Shakhtar manager Paulo Fonseca says there are no weak links in the City side. Fonseca said: “We will need to pay attention to all the players in the City team. They are very strong players and any of them can give us problems.
“We know it is going to be difficult and we will probably have to suffer a bit without the ball, but we will try to find ways to play our game and attack. “Our principles remain the same, no matter who we play against. It doesn’t matter who we are playing against – Manchester City or any other team.”
Manchester City’s win in Hoffenheim coupled with Olympique Lyon’s failure to beat Shakhtar Donetsk in France has brought Manchester City’s chance of progress back to where it was before they lost at home to Lyon.
The Euro Club Index gives City an 88% chance of making it through to the knockout phase of the Champions League, making them the most likely of the four English teams – Man City, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United – to get there. A return of at least four points from the next two matches against Shakhtar will make City’s progress more or less certain.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- This will be the third meeting between Shakhtar Donetsk and City, with the sides having also faced off in the group stages of the Champions League last season.
- The home side has won both previous meetings between Shakhtar and City, with the Etihad-outfit winning 2-0 and the Ukrainian side winning 2-1 in the Champions League group stages last season.
Shakhtar Donetsk
- Shakhtar have never lost a home match against an English side in European competition (W5 D2), with their most recent such game being a 2-1 win against Man City in the Champions League last season.
- Shakhtar have scored at least twice in each of their last seven home Champions League games, losing just one of those (W5 D1).
- Seventeen of Shakhtar’s last 19 Champions league goals have been scored by players from South American countries, including 14 from Brazil.
- Shakhtar’s Moraes has scored in two of his last three Champions League appearances, after netting in just one of his previous 12 in the competition.
Manchester City
- City have won four of their last six Champions League away games, losing the other two.
- They have only failed to score in one of their last 15 Champions League group stage games, with this coming in a 0-4 defeat to Barcelona in October 2016.
- Striker Sergio Aguero has played 49 Champions League games for City and could become the first player to make 50 appearances for them in the competition.
- Aguero has scored 22 goals in the Champions League group stages for City – only Didier Drogba (23 for Chelsea) has more for an English club.
Source: BBC News
