Shakhtar Donetsk will play their first Champions League match in Lviv

Shakhtar Donetsk will play their first Champions League match in Lviv on Tuesday, when they take on FC Porto in Group H.


The Ukranian champions have been forced to play in the western city because of the ongoing conflict in Donetsk.

Shakhtar will be looking for their first win after an encouraging goalless draw in their opening game at Athletic Bilbao.

Porto beat BATE Borisov of Belarus 6-0 in their first game and Shakhtar's Brazilian forward Luis Adriano said on Monday that the team know what they will be up against.

"On the counter-attack they (Porto) have really fast players and that's why we have to be careful," he said. "In talking about the situation here, we have overcome it, we must to focus on this very important match. We have to archive our goals that's what our coach is asking us about, especially regarding that Porto, who are a very strong team."

The two teams have some history - Adriano was in the Shakhtar side in the 2011-12 competition when the pair were drawn in Group G in the opening phase.

Porto won on home soil 2-1, but Shakhtar had two players sent off and a fair goal disallowed, according to coach Mircha Luchesku.

"Three years ago we played against Porto, we scored a valid goal that was disallowed and we lost two players (two were sent off) in that game," he said. "That was very bad also for our other matches in the Champions League. So this is a good opportunity for revenge. We want to play a really good match because we want to keep the dream alive of having Shakhtar among the best European teams."

Neither team advance to the last 16 that year.

Luchesku also said that having to play the game 1200 kilometres west of their home base will not affect his team too much.

"We (have) already adapted a little bit to this situation, and it's not easy for everybody of us," he said. "But I think when we play a match in Champions League, especially with Porto in this situation, it's not important where we are playing, at home or outside we need to be ready for play. It's ok, I think the players are in good condition."

Shakhtar lie second in the Ukrainian Premier League table, a point behind Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and warmed up for the Porto game with a 5-1 cup win at Poltava last Thursday.

Porto have stalled somewhat in the Portuguese Primeira League - after winning their first three matches they have drawn their last three and are four points behind leders Benfica.