A win this Wednesday will give Real 13 points which will solidify their claim of the top spot, since following them are Paris Saint-Germain with seven points.
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Real coach Rafa Benitez, under pressure after the drubbing from Barca, is taking just five recognised defenders to Ukraine.
Los Blancos were thrashed 4-0 at home against arch-rivals Barcelona at the weekend, leading to fans calling for the dismissal of the former Liverpool manager.
“We have to learn from our mistakes”.
“Rather than analysing the game, which of course we will do, what matters most now is lifting the group’s spirits quickly and getting everyone to see the importance of the upcoming fixtures”, Benitez said after the loss at the Bernabeu.
“If my players didn’t believe in me, we wouldn’t have gone 14 games undefeated and wouldn’t be through to the last 16 in the Champions League”, he added.
Real Madrid squad in full: Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla, Ruben Yanez; Raphael Varane, Pepe, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, Danilo; Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic, Luka, Modric, Denis Cheryshev, Isco; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez, Jese.
Shakhtar have failed to score in five of their last six games in the Champions League.
Real Madrid are playing in the Champions League for the 19th consecutive season, the longest current run.
Real Madrid have won one of their four away Champions League games against Ukrainian opposition, against Dynamo Kiev back in November 1999 (2-0).
Real have scored the second-highest number of goals in La Liga this season and have conceded the joint-third lowest.
Out: Sergio Ramos (shoulder); Marcelo (thigh).
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Manager Mircea Lucescu will likely bring in Ivan Ordets and Vyacheslav Shevchuk into the starting line-up, while Vitali Vitsnets has also been ruled out with a knee problem.
