Andriy Shakhov: "Let's see if Shakhtar have managed to reach peak form for the start of the Champions League"

Famous Ukrainian journalist Andriy Shakhov told what he expects from the starting match of Shakhtar Donetsk in the main stage of the Champions League - tomorrow, against Italian Bologna.

"Shakhtar Donetsk will start the start in the Champions League, which will be held in a renewed format. There are more participants, more matches: instead of six - eight. There will be no group tournaments. Now there is a common table for all teams.

Shakhtar will play the first of the eight games against Italian Bologna, a 100% debutant of the tournament. Last season, Bologna finished fifth in Serie A, and if under the old regulations it was not enough to qualify for the Champions League, then under the new regulations it belongs there.

However, when talking about Bologna, you should not look at the last championship. Compared to it, the team became noticeably weaker, having earned very well on the transfer market. Gone is the head coach - the famous former midfielder Tiago Motta, who took Juventus. The leaders (Arsenal, MJ...), on the sale of which the Red-Blue earned more than a hundred million euros in the summer, have scattered to the English grandees!

Of course, it affected the results. At the moment "Bologna" occupies the fourth, but already from the end of the place in the standings, without a single victory and conceding seven goals in four games. This is a good reason to say that Bologna can be played and can be beaten even away.

However, Shakhtar started the season poorly, having already suffered two defeats, but it is clear that there was no point for the Pitmen to reach peak form by the start of the championship, it is much more important for them to gain it before the second half of September, for the Champions League. Let's see if Shakhtar managed to do it," Shakhov was quoted as saying by Bankova Mail.