Wolfsburg
John Anthony Brooks (48)
UEFA Europa League
1 - 2
Thursday, March 12, 2020 10:00 PM
Wolfsburg Arena
Shakhtar
Junior Moraes (17) Marcos Antonio (73)
Preview
March 12, Wolfsburg, VfL Wolfsburg Arena, 10:00 pm
Live broadcast on Futbol 1 channel
Before the match
Shakhtar set off for Germany on the matchday’s eve. Due to the coronavirus situation, a meeting with Wolfsburg will be held behind closed doors. This is not the first case for the Miners when they have to play in European competitions without any spectators. Back in 2005, this was the case in the Champions League qualifying stage vs Inter Milan at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, and vs Lyon in France in 2018. On both occasions, the reason behind it was punishing the opponents’ fans for bad behaviour.
The Orange-Blacks arrived in Germany without Taras Stepanenko - one of the team leaders will miss the nearest games due to an operation on his meniscus. Manor Solomon also continues to recover. Luis Castro took 24 players to Wolfsburg. Given their tight schedule, the Miners are planning to go to Zaporizhia immediately after the Europa League match in order to recover and prepare for the next league game vs Zorya (March 15th).
Opponents
Wolfsburg is one of the three representatives of Germany in the Europa League Round of 16. The Wolves finished second in the group featuring Belgium’s Gent, France’s Saint-Etienne and Ukraine’s Oleksandriia, also defeating Sweden’s Malmo in the first knockout round (2-1 at home, 3-0 away). The team has enjoyed an unbeaten run in the recent 8 games in all competitions. Oliver Glasner's men suffered the most recent defeat at the hands of Hertha at home (1-2) on January 25, followed by 5 victories and 3 draws.
Wolfsburg, just like Shakhtar, have faced some personnel issues. Recently, the captain Josuha Guilavogui suffered an injury. The right-back Kevin Mbabu has some thigh issues, while his role competitor William will be out for long due to a torn cruciate ligament, so they shifted the winger Renato Steffen down to play as a defender in the recent game vs Leipzig (0-0).
Head-to-head record
The teams have never met before. At the same time, Wolfsburg are the 10th opponents from Germany for Shakhtar. The Miners had 22 games against the German clubs (7 wins, 8 draws, 7 defeats).
Wolfsburg Vs. Shakhtar history
Recent games
UEFA Europa League
Thu 12
•Mar 2020
•22:00
Wolfsburg Arena
Referee: Damir Skomina
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