Shakhtar Donetsk |
0 - 1Stadium: Donbass Arena (Donets'k)
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Juventus will be looking to assure themselves of a place in the Round of 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League when they travel to Ukraine to do battle with hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.
The Italian champions only need a point to progress to the next round, and will surely rate their chances of achieving this, even if they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Shakhtar when the sides met at the Juventus Arena in early October.
However, if Juve suffer a defeat against the already-qualified Ukrainians and Chelsea win against Nordsjaelland the Italians will be eliminated from the competition.
Juventus, who have picked up five successive away draws in European competitions, have been rather inconsistent in recent weeks but coach Antonio Conte will be delighted by the fact that he will be able to count with a close-to full-strength squad for the crucial clash.
Juve's only absentee of note is Claudio Marchisio, who starred by scoring two goals as La Vecchia Signora crushed city rivals Torino 3-0 on the weekend. Marchisio received a third booking in Europe in the 3-0 thrashing of European champions Chelsea on November 20.
Meanwhile, rivals Shakhtar Donetsk don't count with the same luck as their counterparts as they will be without several top players, such as Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano and defenders Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Tomas Hubschmann.
While Luiz Adriano, who will be replaced by Brazilian-born Croatian international Eduardo, is suspended, Chygrynskiy and Hubschmann are both injured.
Despite the fact that Mirko Vucinic hasn't managed to find the back of the net in nine league games, Conte still confirmed that the Montenegrin will partner Sebastian Giovinco in Juventus' attack.
Nov 30, 2012: Kryvbas 0-2 Shakhtar (Ukrainian Premier League)
Nov 24, 2012: Shakhtar 5-1 Uzhhorod (Ukrainian Premier League)
Nov 20, 2012: Nordsjaelland 2-5 Shakhtar (UEFA Champions League)
Nov 17, 2012: Arsenal Kiev 2-0 Shakhtar (Ukrainian Premier League)
Dec 1, 2012: Juventus 3-0 Torino (Serie A)
Nov 25, 2012: Milan 1-0 Juventus (Serie A)
Nov 20, 2012: Juventus 3-0 Chelsea (UEFA Champions League)
Nov 17, 2012: Juventus 0-0 Lazio (Serie A)
- With twelve goals Shakhtar are the joint-top goalscorers of the competition along with Paris Saint-Germain.
- Juventus are unbeaten in their last five UEFA Champions League matches, including qualifying games.
Shakhtar 1-1 Juventus