The first of two encounters in the Europa League 16th Finals, as the hometeam Shakhtar Donetsk will try to edge Benfica in their own ballpark.
We should expect both teams to be fresh and ready for this match, as there is some time since both teams last played. Let's have a look at how the teams are doing!
Everyone involved with the away team has to get their travel gear ready for this match as there's a whopping 4600 kilometers to cover before arriving at the match.
Shakhtar Donetsk form and stats
Last season, Shakhtar Donetsk's Europa League journey ended in the 16th finals against Eintracht Frankfurt.8-1-0 is the performance here at Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist so far in the Premier League, giving Shakhtar Donetsk a total of 25 from their 9 games here. Outstanding results! Shakhtar Donetsk has a nice streak going on as they have played 47 consecutive games without losing (regardless of home/away). They are keen to extend their tally, a streak that began after the Dynamo Kyiv defeat 566 days ago. Nine out of nine points from the last three home games for Shakhtar Donetsk, and the home supporters are ready to scream their lungs out to keep the winning streak alive.
A strong away win for Shakhtar Donetsk against Zorya the last match, as Marlos and Junior Moraes were on target. Before that match, a Premier League win away at Zorya.
The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Shakhtar Donetsk have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found three matches with the results: Won zero, drawn two and lost one.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Premier League game versus Desna in only three days. This game is also played here at Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist.
Shakhtar Donetsk always seem capable of creating a buzz here at Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist with 30 goals in 9 league games. Shakhtar Donetsk are not conceding a lot of goals here at Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 5 from 9 matches.
Benfica form and stats
Benfica was sent out of Europa League in the quarter-finals last season, when Eintracht Frankfurt turned out to be too strong.The away performances of Benfica have been very solid so far with 9 wins, 0 draws and 1 defeat in the Primeira Liga. The question is whether this happy travelling can continue.
The manager B. Nascimento was unhappy after their last game, a Primeira Liga match played at their home ground Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz). Benfica suffered a 0-1 loss to Sporting Braga. Preceding that game, the 1-1 draw paying a visit to Famalicao.
Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos had a great day against Sporting Braga, but despite making six saves the loss could not be avoided.
As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found three similar matches played by Benfica in our archives, and the results are: one win for Benfica, zero draws and two defeats.
Benfica has another fixture away, a Primeira Liga game, against Gil Vicente in just four days. A tough schedule for the visitors!
The Benfica manager B. Nascimento has got the team scoring on the road, with 22 away goals in 10 league matches. They concede less than a goal on average per away game (6 so far).
Head 2 Head
Numbers for the last two meetings between these two teams are: one win for Shakhtar Donetsk, zero draws and one win for Benfica. Over 2,5 goals: one time; under 2,5 goals: one game.Top Goalscorers
  A. Ribeiro Moraes Júnior 15 goals |   C. Alves Morais 14 goals |  L. Fernandes 12 goals |
Shakhtar Donetsk missing players
Benfica missing players
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Benfica | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 15 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 14 | 8 | Won | W | 7 | 18 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 4 | 4 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Lost | L | 2 | 3 | ||
| 44 | 25 | Scored | S | 23 | 55 | ||
| 21 | 11 | Conceded | C | 15 | 25 | ||
| 96% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 72% | 60% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 88% | ||
| 48% | 40% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 54% | 68% | ||
| 24% | 27% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 44% | ||
| 12% | 13% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 15% | 20% | ||
| 44% | 27% | BTTS | BTTS | 69% | 60% | ||
| 44% | 53% | Clean Sheets | C S | 31% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 27% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 4% | ||
| 5.5 | 5.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.8 | 6.4 | ||
| 4 | 3.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.1 | 3.9 | ||
| 1.9 | 1.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3.2 | 2.6 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 231 | 139 | Total Shots | T S | 162 | 346 | ||
| 97 | 61 | Shots on Target | S O | 57 | 126 | ||
| 42% | 36% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 40% | 44% | ||
| 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 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 41 | 50 |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 24 | 36 |
| 3 | Zorya | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 8 | 18 | 34 |
| 4 | Desna | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 33 |
| 5 | Oleksandria | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 33 |
| 6 | Mariupol | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 26 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | -9 | 22 |
| 7 | Kolos Kovalivka | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 31 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 17 | -13 | 20 |
| 8 | Dnipro-1 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 15 | -10 | 18 |
| 9 | Olimpik Donetsk | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -16 | 18 |
| 10 | Lviv | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 32 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 17 | -18 | 15 |
| 11 | Vorskla | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 20 | -21 | 14 |
| 12 | Karpaty | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | -18 | 11 |
| 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 | 21 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 37 | 54 |
| 2 | Porto | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 44 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 30 | 50 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 33 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 37 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 23 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 36 |
| 5 | Rio Ave | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 33 |
| 6 | Famalicao | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 36 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 17 | -3 | 32 |
| 7 | Santa Clara | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | -4 | 29 |
| 8 | Boavista | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| 9 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 28 |
| 10 | Gil Vicente | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -4 | 26 |
| 11 | Vitória FC | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -8 | 26 |
| 12 | Tondela | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | -7 | 24 |
| 13 | Moreirense | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -1 | 23 |
| 14 | Maritimo | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 21 |
| 15 | Belenenses | 20 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -21 | 18 |
| 16 | Pacos de Ferreira | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 27 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -15 | 16 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 21 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 18 | -15 | 15 |
| 18 | Desportivo Aves | 20 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 21 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 25 | -18 | 12 |