Europa League team news and preview: Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Inter take on Shakhtar Donetsk in Germany on Monday night for a place in the Europa League final against Sevilla.
This is Inter's first European semi-final since the 2009/10 Champions League and only Shakhtar's second ever occasion at this stage of the competition, last achieving the feat in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup. Both teams went on to become European champions in those respective campaigns.
Ahead of Monday night's clash between Inter and Shakhtar, we have everything you need to know about the match all in on place, including kick-off time, where you can watch it and all the pertinent team news.
When is kick off?
Monday 17th August, 20:00 GMT
Where is the match?
Merkur Spiel-Arena, Duesseldorf (Germany)
Where can I watch it?
BT Sport 1 / BT Sport Extra 1 / BT Sport Ultimate
How they qualifed
Inter were almost made to rue missed chances after completely outplaying Bayer Leverkusen in large parts of their quarter-final tie. Antonio Conte's side took a 2-0 lead inside 21 minutes thanks to goals from Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku but were pegged back by Kai Havertz three minutes later. Despite having 18 shots to Leverkusen's 9 and seven on target to their two, the scoreline remained 2-1.
Unlike Inter, Shakhtar never looked back after going ahead early in their quarter-final match-up with FC Basel. The Ukrainian side opened the scoing in the second minute and keep pushing for more goals thereafter. They were 4-0 up before Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored a 92-minute consolation for FC Basel.
Team News
Alexis Sanchez has been ruled out for Inter with a muscle injury but was not going to start with Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez preferred in attack. Milan Skriniar still finds himself out of the side with a summer move away now looking likely, while Christian Eriksen and Victor Moses will also be on the bench. Signed from Real Madrid this summer, Achraf Hakimi cannot play for Inter until the 2020/21 season.
Shakhtar Donetsk are expected to name an unchanged XI from the one that thrashed FC Basel last time out in the competition. The Ukrainian giants had four different Brazilian's score in the quarter-finals and they will continue to rely heavily on their South American contingent when they face Inter.
Probable XIs
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Godin, De Vrij, Bastoni; D'Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Gagliardini, Young; Martinez, Lukaku
Shakhtar (4231): Pyatov; Dodo, Krivtsov, Bondar, Matvyenko; Antonio, Stepaneko; Marlos, Patrick, Taison; Moraes
Key Battle: Romelu Lukaku vs Junior Moraes
Romelu Lukaku is in red hot form and enjoying a remarkable first season with Inter. In fact, no player since Ronaldo has enjoyed a more prolific first season for Inter than the Belgium international and his goalscoring displays are even better in the Europa League. In the quarter-finals, Lukaku became the first player in the competition's history to score in nine straight matches, a run that remarkably stretches back to November 2014 with Everton. Lukaku has flourished since leaving Manchester United last summer and will be key to Inter's chances of winning their first European cup in a decade.
Shakhtar will be leaning on their own talisman to inspire them to the Europa League final. Junior Moares has been in equally superb form since Shakhtar dropped into the competition from the Champions League group stage. The Shakhtar No.10 only managed two goals in six Champions League appearances but has four in five in the knockout phase of the Europa League this season. Moares has scored in each of Shakhtar's last three games and is the second highest WhoScored rated player (3+ apps) in the competition (7.84).
Prediction: Inter 2-1 Shakhtar
