* Barcelona defeated Arsenal 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 16 in the Champions League to progress to the quarter-finals.
* However, the team that has knocked the Gunners out of Europe’s premier club competition in the last seven seasons has lost its next knock-out game.
* Pep Guardiola’s side have faced the fewest shots on target in the Champions League this campaign.
* The Blaugrana have reached the semi-finals of the competition in each of the last three seasons.
* Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has scored 25 goals in his last 30 matches in the Champions League and 14 in his last 11 starts. The Argentine also has taken 20 shots on target, more than any player in the competition this campaign.
* Shakhtar Donetsk are in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in their history. In the last 16 stage, the Ukrainians defeated Italian side Roma 6-2 on aggregate, scoring three goals in both matches.
* The Miners defeated Barcelona 3-2 at the Camp Nou the last time they played there. They have won two and lost three of their six European matches against the reigning Spanish champions.
* Shakhtar forward Eduardo has scored four goals from just six shots on target in the competition this season.
* Mircea Lucescu’s side have scored the most number of goals from outside the opposition’s penalty box in Europe’s elite club competition.
* Shakhtar have emerged victorious in nine of their last ten Champions League encounters and have scored a staggering 26 goals.
LAST MEETING
August 28, 2009: Barcelona 1-0 Shakhtar Donestsk
Barcelona and Shakhtar confronted each other in the UEFA Super Cup in 2009 at Stade Louis II in Monaco. The Spanish giants had won the Champions League the previous season while the Ukrainians had bagged the UEFA Cup. The encounter finished goalless after 90 minutes, meaning that it went into extra-time. With five minutes left of the 30-minute period, Pedro found the target for the Blaugrana.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Busquets, Adriano; Iniesta, Mascherano, Xavi; Pedro, Villa, Messi
Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov; Srna, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Rat; Hubschman, Mkhitaryan; Costa, Jadson, Willian; Luiz Adriano
Prediction
Barcelona need to register a comprehensive victory at Camp Nou in order to be completely certain of progressing through to the semi-finals from this tie as Shakhtar have a formidable home record. One suspects that the Blaugrana will win on Wednesday night but given the Ukrainian side’s propensity to score loads of goals, they should get one.
Barcelona 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk 
