Get ready for the return leg of the Europa League 16th Finals between Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk. This should be an interesting match and this preview contains everything you need to know. Read on!
It's no vacation for neither Benfica nor Shakhtar Donetsk as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
It's time to recharge all electronic entertainment devices for Shakhtar Donetsk, who are travelling more than 4600 kilometers to play this game.
Benfica form and stats
Benfica participated in Europa League the last season, where they reached the quarter-finals and lost against Eintracht Frankfurt.Benfica have performed here at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica this season with 9 wins from 11 Primeira Liga matches. Some points have been lost, as they have drawn 0 games and lost 2.
A strong away win for Benfica against Gil Vicente the last match, as Carlos Vinícius were on target. Heartbreak before that as Benfica lost 1-2 at Shakhtar Donetsk's place.
Odysseas Vlachodimos loved the game against Gil Vicente. With a stunning seven saves the goalkeeper played a huge part in the 1-0 victory.
The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Benfica have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found three games) they have won two times, drawn zero and lost one.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Primeira Liga game versus Moreirense in only four days. This game is also played here at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
Goals decide football matches and Benfica are scoring many of them at home; 27 on target from 11 league matches. Benfica have only conceded 6 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Shakhtar Donetsk form and stats
They also participated in Europa League last season. This ended in the 16th finals, when Eintracht Frankfurt drew the shortest straw.The strength of Shakhtar Donetsk on their travels this season is incredible with 25 points collected from 9 Premier League away games. Shakhtar Donetsk has 8-1-0 on the road, with 20 goals scored and 4 conceded. Things are running smoothly for Shakhtar Donetsk who hasn't tasted defeat in their last 48 matches, regardless of venue and tournament. Their last defeat was against Dynamo Kyiv. Shakhtar Donetsk are enjoying a nice run from their away games now, having played 23 in a row without losing.
Shakhtar Donetsk won their last game, 1-0 versus Desna played at home. A home win before that, celebrating 2-1 vs Benfica.
Late drama in the previous game, when Marlos scored the winning goal four minutes into stoppage time to defeat Desna.
We have checked recent matches where Shakhtar Donetsk have had similar odds to win. Win-draw-lose statistics from those two games were one victory, zero draws and one defeat.
Shakhtar Donetsk has another fixture away, a Premier League game, against Vorskla in just three days. A tough schedule for the visitors!
The Shakhtar Donetsk manager L. Ribeiro de Castro has got the team scoring on the road, with 20 away goals in 9 league matches. Shakhtar Donetsk's manager L. Ribeiro de Castro has created a great defensive setup working very nicely in away games with only 4 conceded goals. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
Shakhtar Donetsk - Benfica 2-1 was the story when these teams last met, earlier this season. Numbers for the last three meetings between these two teams are: one win for Benfica, zero draws and two wins for Shakhtar Donetsk. Over 2,5 goals: two times; under 2,5 goals: one game.Top Goalscorers
  C. Alves Morais 15 goals |  A. Ribeiro Moraes Júnior 15 goals |  L. Fernandes 12 goals |
Benfica missing players
Shakhtar Donetsk missing players
| Benfica | Shakhtar Donetsk | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 8 | 25 | ||
| 17 | 10 | Won | W | 4 | 14 | ||
| 4 | 0 | Drew | D | 3 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | ||
| 54 | 30 | Scored | S | 15 | 43 | ||
| 26 | 9 | Conceded | C | 9 | 21 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 88% | 91% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 88% | 68% | ||
| 68% | 82% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 62% | 48% | ||
| 44% | 55% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 24% | ||
| 20% | 27% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 12% | 12% | ||
| 60% | 45% | BTTS | BTTS | 75% | 44% | ||
| 36% | 45% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 44% | ||
| 4% | 9% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 16% | ||
| 6.6 | 7.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.6 | 5.5 | ||
| 4 | 3.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5 | 4.3 | ||
| 2.5 | 1.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.6 | 1.5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 5 | ||
| 341 | 177 | Total Shots | T S | 72 | 238 | ||
| 128 | 67 | Shots on Target | S O | 26 | 102 | ||
| 42% | 45% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 58% | 39% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 50 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 38 | 57 |
| 2 | Porto | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 47 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 32 | 56 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 36 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 40 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
| 5 | Rio Ave | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 36 |
| 6 | Famalicão | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 39 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 20 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -4 | 33 |
| 7 | Vitória SC | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 31 |
| 8 | Santa Clara | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -5 | 29 |
| 9 | Boavista | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -3 | 28 |
| 10 | Moreirense | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 31 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 0 | 26 |
| 11 | Vitória FC | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -10 | 26 |
| 12 | Gil Vicente | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -5 | 26 |
| 13 | Belenenses | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 19 | -19 | 24 |
| 14 | Tondela | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | -8 | 24 |
| 15 | Maritimo | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -7 | 24 |
| 16 | Paços de Ferreira | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 19 | -17 | 19 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 22 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 31 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -16 | 15 |
| 18 | Desportivo Aves | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 22 | 42 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 26 | -20 | 13 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 42 | 53 |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 25 | 39 |
| 3 | Zorya | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 19 | 37 |
| 4 | Desna | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 33 |
| 5 | Oleksandria | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 33 |
| 6 | Kolos Kovalivka | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 32 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -12 | 23 |
| 7 | Mariupol | 19 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | -10 | 22 |
| 8 | Dnipro-1 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -10 | 19 |
| 9 | Olimpik Donetsk | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 33 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -17 | 18 |
| 10 | Lviv | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -17 | 18 |
| 11 | Vorskla | 19 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 35 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 22 | -22 | 14 |
| 12 | Karpaty | 19 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 34 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | -18 | 12 |