Stadium: Valeri Lobanovski Stadium, Ukraine
Match Time: 17:30 UK
22' Dmytro Chigrinsky (og)
68' Luis Fernandinho
Pre-Match News:
Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk face off in the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg happy to put domestic issues aside for 180 minutes.
Dynamo currently sit 12 points clear of Shakhtar in the domestic table with the Premier League title within their grasp, but Shakhtar boast the superior European record in recent seasons.
The pair meet in the final match of the domestic season but realise their two UEFA Cup clashes will be more significant with the league title race looking certain to be over by the time they face off at the end of next month.
An aggregate victory for Dynamo in the next fortnight will leave them in line to win an impressive domestic and European double, should they overcome the winner of the all-German semi between Werder Bremen and Hamburg at the Sukru Sracoglu stadium in Istanbul.
Experienced Shakhtar defender Razvan Rat has urged his team-mates to remain calm as five players risk collecting a second yellow card which would rule them out of the second leg.
"I am sure they know they should be careful,'' he told his club's website. "They must prove they are able to keep their emotions at bay.
"We know our opponents pretty well and they know us. It's not the first time that we have met in a match of such importance.
"We must remain focused on the game and we'll have more briefings before the match and the coach will explain to us how we should play against Dynamo.''
Shakhtar will be able to call on midfield pair Fernandinho and Ilsinho with highly-rated Marcelo Moreno in line to start in attack.
Dynamo destroyed in-form French side Paris St Germain to reach the last four and will be slight favourites over two legs due to their domestic superiority.
Dynamo president Igor Surkis insists the side should be able to continue fighting on two fronts rather than relaxing in the Premier League with the title all-but won.
"This is unlikely,'' he said. "I have never concealed that the priority for our club is success on the European scene.
"But we must not forget that our current first placing in the national championship is our chance to reach the Champions League directly next season.''
Dynamo coach Yuri Syomin has to wait and see over the fitness of Roman Eremenko (illness) and Artyom Kravets (injury) ahead of Shakhtar's visit.
(credits: Soccernet)
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