Shakhtar v Dortmund Tip

I feel that there’s a discrepancy in the betting for this match as I don’t see how Borussia can be as short as 8/15 (Boylesports) to progress to the quarter-finals but as long as 9/5 (StanJames) to win in the Ukraine.

Nobody looked better than the Germans in the group stages and based on performance alone they should probably be second favourites for the trophy. These were Dortmund’s Group D results:

Borussia 1-0 Ajax
Man City 1-1 Borussia
Borussia 2-1 R Madrid
R Madrid 2-2 Borussia
Ajax 1-4 Borussia
Borussia 1-0 Man City

Impressive. But dig a little deeper and it was very nearly superlative. Only a last minute penalty and a man-of the-match display from Joe Hart denied Jurgen Klopp’s team at the Etihad while Jose Mourinho was reliant on Mesut Ozil scoring in the 89th minute to spare Real’s blushes at the Bernabeu. The Bundesliga champions were that close to a maximum 18 points in the ‘group of death.’

They head to Donetsk bang on form, particularly Robert Lewandowski who has scored in six matches in a row. Meanwhile the hosts haven’t played competitively for over two months due to a winter break and they will miss the talented Willian who was sold in January.

The bookies clearly think Shakhtar are formidable at home but the record states that they have only actually won 2 of their last 7 Champions League games at Donbass Arena. With all this in mind, I’m happy to back Dortmund to win their away leg.