Match Today: Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk 05-10-2022 UEFA Champions League

Real Madrid will hope to get back on the winning path when they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Round three of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage will conclude on Wednesday, with eight matches scheduled. Real Madrid will appear in the main Group F as they host Shakhtar Donetsk at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid finally failed to win a game of the season for the first time last weekend, as Osasuna drew 1-1 in La Liga. This result means that the Meringue team has fallen to second place in the league table.

But Carlo Ancelotti's men remained top of Group F in the Champions League after beating Celtic and Leipzig in their first two matches.

On the other hand, Shakhtar Donetsk blew up a surprise in the first two matches by beating Leipzig 4-1 and drawing Celtic 1-1. Igor Yoseevich's men were also in good shape in the Ukrainian Premier League, winning four games and taking one stumble to lead Dnipro-1 by a point.

Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk have been familiar opponents in recent years. Los Blancos beat Shakhtar 2-1 last season, with Karim Benzema scoring a double victory in the match.

Carlo Ancelotti received a mixed batch of updates on the team's news page ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk's visit. On Wednesday, the Real Madrid coach could be deprived of the services of one first-team player. Thibaut Courtois remained on the sidelines due to the back injury that forced him to miss against Osasuna last weekend.

And according to trusted Jose Luis Sanchez, Courtois will not take part in Real Madrid's match against Shakhtar Donetsk. In addition, Eduardo Camavinga trained alone before the match and Real Madrid may not play against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. But there is some good news as Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez have recovered from their troubles and are likely to be in the match day squad.

The 2022/23 season is the third consecutive season that Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk meet in the group stage of the Champions League.

Meringue has won four of its six Champions League matches against Shakhtar Donetsk, all in the group stage, winning both games in 2015/16 and 2021/22 but losing both games in 2020/21.

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Real Madrid in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage. Only four teams have won twice away from Real Madrid in the competition: Ajax, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Roma.

Real Madrid have won each of their last six Champions League group stage matches, scoring 17 goals and conceding only once in the process. This is their longest winning streak in the group stage since between November 2013 and September 2015, when they won 10 times in a row.

Ancelotti, meanwhile, may not risk Modric against Shakhtar, with the first Clasico of the season less than two weeks away. So Federico Valverde is likely to start in midfield alongside Aurelien Chuamini and Toni Kroos. Thus Modric will be a backup option on the bench, along with Dani Ceballos. Unlike his counterpart at Real Madrid, Igor Jovicevich does not have many pressing concerns hindering his preparations ahead of his trip to Santiago Bernabeu. Shakhtar Donetsk coach will only be without one first-team player on Wednesday, with Viktor Kornienko out for an extended period.