Our prediction for this Champions League match:
Leipzig will be looking to kick off their Champions League campaign in great manner when they face Shakhtar Donetsk at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls aim to make amends for a heavy 4-0 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, and they are likely to fight tooth and nail against the Ukrainian outfit. Dani Olmo has joined Lukas Klostermann and Yussuf Poulsen in the recovery room, while Hungary midfielder Dominik Szaboszlai should be recalled to the starting XI.
The Miners, on the other hand, aim to build on back-to-back wins over Kryvbas and Rukh Lviv, but seeing that Leipzig have turned their Red Bull Arena into a real fortress, home win should be considered. This will be the first ever meeting between the two sides in European competitions. There are no fresh injury worries in the away team ahead of the trip to Germany.
Highlighted Player (Yussuf Poulsen):
Yussuf Poulsen is a Danish footballer who started his youth career at BK Skjold. At the age of 14 he joined Lyngby and he made his debut for the first team on 4 December, 2011. He came as a substitute in a match against Horsens after 84 minutes, substituting Mathias Tauber. However, he made no more than five league appearances for Lyngby in the 2011/2012 season.
Despite the fact that Lyngby dropped to Denmark 1st Division, Poulsen did not leave the club in the summer transfer window and it has to be noted that he made 30 appearances for the Vikings in the 2012/2013 campaign. On 4 July, 2013 he signed a deal with Leipzig and he has been playing for the German outfit ever since.
The 193-cm-tall attacker is capable of playing as both right and left winger. Poulsen’s father is Tanzanian, but he decided to represent the Danish national team. He made his debut for the senior team against Albania on 11 October, 2014. Poulsen scored his first ever goal for Denmark in a 2-0 win over Serbia on June 13, 2015.
Highlighted Team (Shakhtar Donetsk):
Despite the fact that they were founded back in 1936, Shakhtar Donetsk were struggling to win the Ukrainian Premier League trophy until 2002. The Miners have established themselves as the dominant force in Ukrainian football and it has to be noted that they won their ninth domestic trophy in 2014.
Shakhtar Donetsk were playing at Donbass Arena in the past, but due to war in Donbass the club temporarily moved to Arena Lviv. In 2009 the Miners won the UEFA Cup trophy under Romanian boss Mircea Lucescu, beating Werder Bremen in the title game. Croatian full back Dario Srna was named the man of the match. Dynamo Kiev are considered Shakhtar Donetsk’s main rivals and there have always been fireworks in meetings between the two sides.
Shakhtar have a rivalry with Metalurh Donetsk as well and the two local rivals face each other in the Donetsk Derby. Chelsea ace Willian, Manchester United star Mkhitaryan and Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho all played for Shakhtar in the past.