Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel meet at Veltins ‑ Arena, in a match for this phase of the UEFA Europa League (Quarter ‑ finals). There is no record of direct confrontations between these two teams in the last 3 years. The last match was played on 09‑07‑2015 and ended with the score: Basel (1‑3) Shakhtar Donetsk. In this game the home factor may be decisive, as Shakhtar Donetsk present considerable differences in their results at home and away.
Shakhtar Donetsk :
The home team reaches this stage of the UEFA Europa League (Quarter ‑ finals) after having played previous qualifiers with: Wolfsburg and Benfica. This is a stronger team with the support of its fans, since in the last 30 games it has registered 8 victories, 5 draws and 2 losses as a visitor, with 30 goals scored and 22 suffered; against 14 victories and 1 draw in his stadium, with 38 goals scored and 9 suffered. In their last 10 home games Shakhtar Donetsk has registered 9 wins and 1 draw.
For this competition, they did not lose any of the last 4 matches. The team allowed the opponent goals in 3 of the last 4 matches, so they have not presented great defensive strength, but their attack has scored regularly, since they always scored at least one goal in the last 4 matches for this competition.
Shakhtar Donetsk come into this match after a 3×0 home win against Wolfsburg: the team’s goals were scored by Junior Moraes (2) and Manor Solomon. Coach Luís Castro must maintain the usual 4-3-3, with Taison, Marlos and Junior Moares being the most advanced men in the team: the last athlete mentioned is the top scorer of this team, with 3 goals scored in this competition. It should be noted that Alan Patrick is the most important man in the tactical scheme of the Ukrainians, as the midfielder is very competent in the offensive process. For this game the coach cannot count on Khocholava, due to a suspension.
Basel:
The visiting team reaches this stage of the UEFA Europa League (Quarter ‑ finals) after having played previous qualifiers with: Eintracht Frankfurt and APOEL. This is a team that presents similar results at home and away, so it is not usually affected by the home factor, since in the last 30 games it has recorded 5 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses as a visitor; against 7 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses in his stadium. In the last 5 away games for the UEFA Europa League, Basel won 3, drew 1 and lost 1. The defense has been strong and only conceded goals in 3 of the last 10 games, and their attack has scored regularly , since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for goals, since 18 of the last 26 matches have ended with Over 2,5 goals. This is a team that does not usually find it difficult to open the scoring: they scored the first goal in 9 of the last 10 UEFA Europa League games, of these 9 they came at half-time ahead in 6 and managed to maintain the lead until the end of the 90 ‘at 8.
Basel come into this match after a 1-0 home win over Frankfurt, thus registering their eighth straight match without losing in official matches: the only goal for the team was scored by Fabian Frei. Generally, coach Marcel Koller plays 4-3-3, favoring the organization of his block and counterattacks, especially through the right flank: Captain Valentin Stocker is very fast and skilled in heads up. On the other hand, midfielder Fabian Frei is Basel’s top scorer in this competition, with 5 goals scored. For this game the coach does not have Comert, suspended, as well as Ramires, Zuffi and Omlin, these with physical problems.
