Bayern Munich Head Coach Pep Guardiola praises Shakhtar Donetsk Brazilians ahead of UEFA Champions League tie

Bayern Munich Head Coach Pep Guardiola has praised Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian contingent ahead of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash at Arena Lviv. Bayern come into the tie against the Ukrainian Premier League holders on the back of an 8-0 win over Hamburger SV on Saturday. Despite their inevitable confidence however, Guardiola has […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-02-17 10:41:00

Bayern Munich Head Coach Pep Guardiola has praised Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian contingent ahead of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash at Arena Lviv.

Bayern come into the tie against the Ukrainian Premier League holders on the back of an 8-0 win over Hamburger SV on Saturday.

Despite their inevitable confidence however, Guardiola has warned his players of Shakhtar’s strength and singled out a number of Brazilians, plus captain Darijo Srna, to watch out for.

"I told my players: ‘If you beat Shakhtar then you can be very proud because they really are one of the top teams,’" he said, as reported by UEFA’s official website. 

"They have a great striker in Luiz Adriano. Douglas Costa, Marlos, Taison, Alex Teixeira are all great players. And I have special words for their captain Darijo Srna. I have watched him a lot for club and country. He would be a talisman in any team in the world."

Due to a winter break, Shakhtar last played competitively against Porto [a 1-1 draw] in the Champions League in December.

To remain match fit, they toured Brazil in January, but had mixed results against the likes of Bahia, Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional and Cruzeiro.

This month, they have also faced Dinamo Zagreb, Almería, Real Murcia and AaB to help prepare for Bayern.