Today at 2:45 p.m. ET, Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen take the field against one another in UEFA Champions League Group A action live from Donbass Arena in the Ukraine. The game can be live streamed here.
Leverkusen will look to take a big step towards the knockout stage in the Ukraine. After defeating Shakhtar 4-0, the team can all but ensure their place in the last 16 with a victory today. The team will be motivated after director of sport Rudi Voller ruled them out of the race for the domestic title.
"We've got to turn things around quickly and show our true face in Donetsk," Voller said prior to Monday's departure for Ukraine, according to ESPN. "We've got to be realistic. Even if we'd won in Braunschweig, Bayern and Dortmund are in a league of their own and they're going to decide the Bundesliga title between them. We've got to focus on finishing third and watch out for the teams behind us."
A third place finish would provide Leverkusen with an automatic starting berth in the group stages of the Champions League next season, but captain Simon Rolfes doesn't want the team to get ahead of itself.
"We're in good form and mustn't let one slip-up ruin everything," he told Sport1.de. "We've got to be alert in Donetsk because they're going to want to make amends for the 4-0 defeat in front of 50,000 fans."
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno knows his team has to give it their all.
"Shakhtar are definitely going to play differently," Leno said per ESPN. "Therefore, we're going to have to give 110 percent if we want to survive."
Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu said Monday that his team is prepared for a tough game.
"Tomorrow is our most important game if we want to go through," Lucescu said at a press conference via ESPN. "With our fans behind us, we can get a good result."
Leverkusen looks to take a big step towards the final 16 while Shakhtar will look to halt their progress this afternoon in the Ukraine.
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