When Pep Guardiola took over at Bayern Munich, who were champions of Europe at the time, in 2013, the Germans looked destined to dominated the domestically and on the continent for years to come. The first six months under his stewardship certainly backed that view up but despite steamrolling their way to another Bundesliga, Bayern have failed to build on their Champions League success two seasons ago when they defeated Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley. A heavy defeat to Real Madrid in the last four, last season, was a surprise to many considering how fancied they were to go all the way and become the first club to win successive titles in this competition.
Shakthar are perennial participants in the Champions League following five straight Ukrainian league titles. They are synonymous from combining their Eastern European core with a smattering of Brazilian talent but it has not always brought with it the success that was expected. This is only their second appearance at this stage of the competition and the furthest they have reached is the quarter finals. Despite getting the goalless draw at home three weeks ago, they are still very much up against it if they are to progress by Bayern. It has been their way form that has let them down over the years, but they did go unbeaten in the group stage this season so that will give them some hope on Wednesday.
The talent that Guardiola at his disposal is ridiculous when you look through his squad of players but he will point to the amount of injuries that he has had to contend with this season. It looks like many of their star players including Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, are all nearing peak fitness and likely to be pivotal to any success they have this season. They will be missing the experience of Phillipe Lahm (injured) and Xabi Alonso (suspended) but they still have more than enough quality to compensate for that, but they will have to play much better than they did in the first half.
The standout result for Shakthar in this year’s Champions League was their 7-0 win away to BATE. It may have come against a weak opposition but to put it into context of the Ukrainian’s away from down the years, they failed to score in four of their previous five away games in the competition. What will be in their favour is the clean sheet they kept in the home game. It gives them a big advantage knowing that if they are able to score, especially if it’s the first goal, Bayern will be under huge pressure in front of their own fans. That’s a big if of course but they do possess plenty of attacking talent.
When Xabi Alonso was sent off with 25 minutes to go in the first leg, it was all about getting through the rest of the game without conceding. They were never at their fluent best but in truth, it’s probably a result which both managers were too disappointed with. Bayern have not conceded a goal in their three home Champions League this season and I still think Shakthar are fragile away from home. Despite missing some of their experienced players I think the home team will win this in a typically efficient, German manner.
Bayern to win to nil 8/11 @ Sportingbet
