Confirmed lineups: Borussia Dortmund vs. Shakhtar Donetsk

Official team news has just been released for Die Schwarzgelben who conclude the group phase by hosting Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 8 of the UEFA Champions League.

With exactly an hour to go until kick-off, Borussia Dortmund’s interim head coach Mike Tullberg has announced his starting eleven to take on Shakhtar Donetsk. The team from the eastern region of Ukraine currently sit in third place after 17 rounds of action in their domestic league but European football has posed a bigger challenge this season.

Meanwhile, Die Schwarzgelben will require a lot of luck if they are to secure one of those coveted top-eight spots which ensure direct qualification to the quarter-finals. While needing a win of their own, BVB would also require several favourable results to go their way in other fixtures around the continent.

Tonight, Dortmund make two changes to their line-up which battled for a 2-2 draw with 10-men for large parts of the game against Werder Bremen last Saturday afternoon. Gregor Kobel remains in goals as Julian Ryerson joins captain Emre Can, Nico Schlotterbeck and Ramy Bensebaini in defence.

Felix Nmecha will spend a lengthy period on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury, therefore the midfield consists of Julian Brandt alongside two fresh faces in Marcel Sabitzer and Maximilian Beier. Into the final third, Karim Adeyemi plays on the right with Jamie Gittens to the left as Serhou Guirassy leads the line.

As for the hosts, their hopes of qualifying for the knockout rounds of Europe’s premier competition are incredibly slim. With 7-points from seven outings, the gap to the top 24 places is three points which Marino Pusic’s men need a win to make up. Last Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Brest was the Ukrainian club’s first competitive game since mid-December. Tonight, the Ukrainian club line up in a 4-1-4-1 formation captained by Ukrainian centre-half Mykola Matviyenko. 

Official lineups below:

Borussia Dortmund (4-3-3): Kobel – Ryerson, Can (c), Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Brandt, Sabitzer, Beier – Adeyemi, Guirassy, Gittens

Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1-4-1): Riznyk – Tobias, Bondar, Matviyenko (c), Azarov – Kryskiv – Zubkov, Marlon, Sudakov, Kevin – Pedrinho