Shakhtar Donetsk Coach Mircea Lucescu expects Real Madrid to be well organised, and laments the problems faced by the team.
Lucescu’s side are unable to play home games in Donetsk due to the conflict in Ukraine, and the veteran trainer said if the match was being played at the Donbass Arena, it would tilt the balance in Shakhtar’s favour.
“Madrid are a super-organised team. But if they were playing in Donetsk, surely we would start with a one-goal advantage,” Lucescu said, AS reports.
“You can’t compare the stadiums. Santiago Bernabeu is a cathedral of football, but in Donetsk there’s the most modern stadium in the world.
“Unfortunately we’re a year-and-a-half not playing in our own stadium. We look forward to playing there again.
“It’s difficult, complicated. We’re away from our fans. We spend most of our time on aeroplanes and train on a field near Kiev.
“The Champions League is different. We have other Ukrainian fans who help us. The important thing is to leave a good impression. It’s not the same as playing on an empty field in Ukraine.
“We’ll see what Madrid offer. They were very organised [against Sporting], and Espanyol. They arrive in good shape and have a Coach who is great with strategy. They’ll succeed with a Coach of that quality.
“We want to show we’re the best or one of the best in Eastern Europe. We’ve bought hardly anyone and sold a lot of players. We’re trying to have home-grown players.”