Real Madrid kick off their Champions League campaign at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, with Rafael Benítez’s side buoyed by two emphatic La Liga wins. After a disappointing season-opening goalless draw against Sporting Gijon, Madrid have beaten Real Betis and Espanyol with a combined aggregate scoreline of 11-0. They’ll be expecting to carry their good form into their first continental game of the season, despite Shakhtar’s reputation as a banana skin for Europe’s best teams.
Real Madrid vs. Shakhtar Donetsk 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Real Madrid kick off their Champions League campaign against Shakhtar Donesk on Tuesday.
That’s partly because Shakhtar haven’t been at their best over the last year, and with good reason. As a result of the political turmoil in eastern Ukraine, Mircea Lucescu’s side were forced into moving several hundred miles to Lviv in the west of the country. It also resulted in several of the team’s Brazilian stars threatening a walk-out, and culminated in them ceding the Ukrainian Premier League title to Dynamo Kyiv for the first time in five years. After a season in their new home they should be a little more settled, but they’re still expected to struggle against a very strong Madrid.
Key player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Rafael Benítez reportedly took over Real Madrid with the intention of giving Gareth Bale a much more central role at the club. That has proven quite literally the case, with the Welshman having having been handed the attacking midfield spot in their 4-2-3-1. However, he's not yet superseded Cristiano Ronaldo in the superstar stakes, as the weekend's 6-0 win over Espanyol -- in which Ronaldo scored five and created the other -- illustrated perfectly. Ronaldo remains Madrid's most potent attacking player, and Shakhtar's right-back Darijo Srna will have to use all his experience to have any success at all.
Upset potential
Shakhtar Donetsk are a good team with talented players, and coach Lucescu has a history of getting the best from their invariably impressive cohort of South American imports. However, the departure of star striker Luiz Adriano over the summer will have doubtless hit them hard, and they only scraped into the group stages courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate win over Rapid Wien. It would come as a big shock if they were able to avoid defeat.
Real Madrid injuries and suspensions
Out: None. In doubt: James Rodríguez (thigh), Danilo (foot).
Shakhtar Donetsk injuries and suspensions
Out: None. In doubt: Facundo Ferreyra (unspecified).
Real Madrid head into this encounter waiting on the fitness of right-back Danilo and attacking midfielder James Rodríguez, who have foot and thigh injuries respectively. Shakhtar, meanwhile, could be without striker Facundo Ferreyra, who has been working on a specialised programme in training.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain
TV: Fox Sports regional networks (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), BT Sport Extra (U.K.)
Online: Fox Soccer 2Go, WatchESPN (U.S.), BT Sport Extra (U.K.)
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