The last match of the 1st Round of 16 offers us Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Roma. The Ukrainian champion show amazing games as they were able to get out of an almost impossible group. Roma also show amazing progress under the management of Eusebio Di Francesco.
The Miners:
Recent transfers:
● (In) Dodô (from Coritiba), Ruslan Fomin (from Mariupol)
● (Out) Yuriy Hluschuk (to Vorskla), Oleksiy Zinkevych (to Oleksandriya)
Performance:
● Shakhtar are looking to defend their title from last year as they are 3 points ahead of main rival Dynamo Kyiv, but Kyiv have one match less played so the title run is sure to be interesting until the end.
● After beating Veres Rivne 4-0, the Miners were able to pass to the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup. The match is to be played in the middle of April.
● In a group with Manchester City, Napoli and Feyenoord, Donetsk were able to finish in 2nd place after beating all 3 opponents, most notably the home wins against Napoli and Manchester City.
Ukrainian Premier League current standings:
| Pos. | Team | Matches | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shakhtar Donetsk | 20 | 45 |
| 2. | Dynamo Kyiv | 19 | 42 |
| 3. | Vorskla Poltava | 20 | 34 |
| 4. | Zorya Luhansk | 20 | 30 |
Predicted lineup:
The Magic Ones:
Recent transfers:
● (In) Jonathan Silva (from Sporting CP)
● (Out) Riccardo Cappa (to Sassuolo), Emerson Palmieri (to Chelsea), Héctor Moreno (to Real Sociedad)
Performance:
● With the arrival of former Sassuolo head coach Eusebio Di Francesco to Roma, the Yellow and Reds started playing even better and are currently in 3rd place in the Serie A, 15 points behind 2nd placed team Juventus. Edin Džeko is the team's goalscorer with 11 goals in Serie A this season in 25 appearances.
● Roma were eliminated in the first match of Coppa Italia. They played in the Round of 16 against Torino and were beaten after goals from Lorenzo De Silvestri and Simone Edera.
● The Roman team finished 1st in his UEFA Champions League group stage after 3 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss in a group with Chelsea, Atlético Madrid and Qarabağ.
Serie A current standings:
| Pos. | Team | Matches | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Napoli | 25 | 66 |
| 2. | Juventus | 25 | 65 |
| 3. | Roma | 25 | 50 |
| 4. | Lazio | 25 | 49 |
Predicted lineup:
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