Shakhtar Donetsk striker Eduardo fit to play against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final
Croatian striker Eduardo has been declared fit to feature in the Shakhtar Donetsk side that will play Spanish giants http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Barcelona-c39078 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal at the Camp Nou this Wednesday.
While talking to the media, manager Mircea Lucescu said that he decided against risking the former Arsenal striker in the league game against Mariupol in order to give the Croatian more time to recover. Last Friday, Shakhtar beat Mariupol 3-1 and went 12
points clear of Dynamo Kiev at the top of the Ukrainian league table. Lucescu said that although he knew Eduardo was ready for the league game, he left out the 28-year-old ahead of the big game against Barcelona. “In the past two days, he has worked with the
main group and trained well," Lucescu said.
Lucescu has already made history with the reigning Ukrainian champions after Shakhtar made it to the last 8 of UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. They defeated Serie A giants AS http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 6-2 on aggregate to make it to the last 8, and set-up a clash
with a Barcelona side that many consider as the best team in the world right now. Talking about the game and his side’s ambitions, Lucescu said that the fixture against Barcelona would be an entirely different game. He admitted that his troops will have to
take the chances that come their way if they are to get past the reigning Spanish champions.
While talking about his side’s latest league win, the Romanian said that it was evident that his players had their minds on the Barcelona game but added that he was very pleased with his side’s overall performance. “It seemed that the players were thinking
about Barcelona. It was important we won the three points to keep our distance in the league. Moreover, we enthusiastically prepared for Barcelona,” the Romanian said.
Shakhtar take on Barcelona this Wednesday and will be hoping that Eduardo is in great shape for the game. The Croatian striker of Brazilian origin is likely to pair up with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luiz-Adriano-c22841, who has scored 4 goals in the Champions League so far.
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