Preview

March 19, Kraków, Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium, 22:00
The live broadcast will be available on MEGOGO

Match build-up

Shakhtar won the first match, which took place a week ago in Poznań at Lech’s ground (3-1), and gained an advantage in the tie. Overall, the Miners have not dropped any points in the spring part of the season: at the weekend, Arda Turan’s side extended their run to 5 wins by defeating Metalist 1925 (1-0) in a UPL match, where the Orange-and-Blacks are the sole leaders.

The Pitmen arrived in Kraków on Monday and had several days to prepare for the fixture. In the upcoming match, Shakhtar will be without two key central defenders – Mykola Matviienko (injury) and Valerii Bondar (suspension). The participation of midfielders Marlon Gomes and Dmytro Kryskiv is doubtful, as they missed the previous league match due to injuries. Meanwhile, the Miners’ most prolific players this season, Kaua Elias (11 goals and 5 assists) and Pedrinho (7 goals and 9 assists), are in good form.

Opponents

Lech, after the defeat to Shakhtar, which was the team’s third in a row across all competitions, finally ended their negative run last Sunday: the Poznań side beat league leaders Zagłębie away (1-0) in the centrepiece match of the Polish Ekstraklasa and drew level with their rivals on points. The important victory for the Railwaymen was secured by a goal from their top scorer this season, 32-year-old Swedish striker Mikael Ishak (he now has 26 goals and 7 assists in 40 matches in all competitions). As for Lech’s squad situation, as before, the team cannot rely on the injured centre-back Douglas, midfielder Lisman and forward Jakóbczyk.

Match background

On March 12, Shakhtar and Lech met for the first time at official level in the UEFA Conference League Round of 16 at the Poznan Stadium. The first half was played with a clear advantage of the Pitmen, which was converted into a goal by Marlon Gomes in the 36th minute. Immediately after the break, in the 48th minute, Newertton doubled the Ukrainian team’s lead. After that, the initiative shifted to the hosts, who reduced the deficit in the 70th minute through a goal from Ishak. However, the Miners sealed the result: in the 85th minute, Isaque scored the goal of the week in the Conference League with an overhead kick to make it 3-1 in favour of the Orange-and-Blacks.

The Shakhtar vs Lech match will be officiated by the judging panel from the Netherlands: referees – Sander van der Eijk, assistant referees – Rens Bluemink and Stefan De Groot, VAR – Richard Martens.