REAL MADRID'S perfect start to the season came to an end at the weekend when ten-men Osasuna held them to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and they will attempt to take their frustrations out on Shakhtar Donetsk.
Carlo Ancelotti's men had made a sensational, record-breaking start to their campaign after nine wins out of nine, but the ten eluded them after fit-again Karim Benzema missed a late penalty in La Liga.
In the Champions League, they have started their defence in peerless fashion by eventually proving too strong for Celtic and seeing off RB Leipzig in Madrid.
They are up against the Ukrainian champions and plenty has been written about Shakhtar's circumstances – they should be used to disruption though because they have been displaced from their Donetsk home since 2014.
They stunned German Cup winners RB Leipzig in their first game in the group and then clung on for a point against Celtic in Poland, with the Scots kicking themselves for not winning it.
They are well on their way to another title and warmed up for their visit to Spain with a 6-1 win against Metalist Kharkiv at Lviv.
How the bookies view it
Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid are almost unbackable as a single, but they will form part of plenty accas at a best price of 3/16 with 10Bet.
Shakhtar can be backed at 16/1 with William Hill and the draw is 7/1 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
This is the third season in a row the sides have been in the same group and Real Madrid won hone and away. However, the previous season, the Ukrainians won home and away too.
Players to watch
Karim Benzema had a frustrating return to action and given he's only just back, he might not play a full part against Shakhtar. That should leave the way open for the excellent Vinicius Junior to impress.
The Brazilian scored a fluke on Sunday, but he is value at 5/6 with bet365 to net.
Danylo Sikan scored a hat-trick at the weekend and was taken off after only an hour to keep him fresh for this. He is 5/1 with bet365 to score in the Spanish capital
Anything else catch the eye?
Real Madrid should get the job done here and Carlo Ancelotti is far too professional to take his foot off the gas. However, this Real Madrid side do offer up plenty of chances to the opposition – Osasuna could have scored a couple on Sunday and the call here is for a home win with both teams to score at 8/5 at bet365.
For all Real Madrid's this season, they have only kept two clean sheets and they were very fortunate that one of them was in Glasgow.
Real Madrid have curiously lost both group stages games on the corner count 5-3. They don't tend to get as many as a team with their possession stats usually get. So it could be worth backing the visitors with a start of five on the corners handicap at 11/10 with bet365.
This UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk will be played on Oct 5, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
