Instead, they must go through the playoffs for a second year running, although it didn’t stop them last season. They beat Fenerbahce and Rapid Vienna to make it to the group,s where they failed to qualify from a group involving Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, and Malmo. They finished 3rd in the group though and then made it all the way to the Europa League semi finals, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Sevilla.
Generally Shakhtar Donetsk have been pretty good in Europe recently. They have made the Champions League group stages ten times since 2005, and they will be confident of doing so again after such a good European performance last season.
Young Boys’ record in the Champions League is a little more reserved than their opponents. They have never made it as far as the group stages and have only actually qualified for the competition twice since 2005, with Monaco knocking them out at this stage last season and Spurs eliminating them in the playoffs in 2010.
Their Europa League record is a bit better though, with them making the group stages three times since 2010 and making it to the round of 32 in the 2010/11 season, only to be eliminated by Zenit.
In Young Boys’ short Champions League history it’s become evident that their problem is on the road. They have lost three of their four away matches in the competition, with Red Star Belgrade beating them 3-0 and Monaco and Spurs beating them 4-0.
Shakhtar Donetsk, on the other hand, have had a lot of success at home in these stages of the competition, managing comprehensive victories over Malmo, Fenerbahce, BATE, Real Sociedad, Nordsjaelland, Roma, and Braga in recent years.
The hosts are without a doubt the better side in this tie, and they are understandably favourites. Considering their penchant for dominant home victories and Young Boys history of collapsing on the road I think a prediction of Shakhtar Donetsk -1.0 Asian Handicap Win at 1.925 is a good backing, so that’s what I’m going for along with a 3-0 correct score prediction at 10/1.
Shakhtar Donetsk and Young Boys will meet each other for the first time on Tuesday.
Young Boys have lost 75% of their away matches in the Champions League by more than a single goal, whilst 67% of Shakhtar Donetsk's last 12 outings have seen them win comfortably.
Left back Marcio Azevedo and playmaker Ruslan Malinovsky are both sidelined with knee injuries.
Full back trio Loris Benito, Florent Hadergjonaj, and Thomas Fekete are all out injured, as is holding midfielder Denis Zakaria and wingers Taulant Seferi and Thorsten Schick. Watch Live stream free Click Here | Link 2#
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