Armenian ace hopeful about Dortmund meet

DONETSK, Ukraine - Agence France-Presse

Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan (L), who is one of the top performers at Shakhtar this season, is optimistic about his team’s European performance. REUTERS photo

Shakhtar Donetsk are capable of defeating Germany’s Borussia Dortmund to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the Ukraine champion’s midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan believes.

The two sides will face up to each other home and away in the tournament’s last 16 next month.

“Everyone knows that there are no weak opponents in the Champions League play-off round,” Armenian international Mkhitaryan, who last month was voted Armenian player of the year for the third time. “I think that both matches with Borussia will be very interesting as the clubs seem to be even and have equal chances of advancing.

“We will try to get a positive result against Borussia but I think it will be a really tough task, they are very strong opponents.

“And we need to stay concentrated throughout both matches with the German champions as even a single mistake against them can be fatal.”

He added that Shakhtar and its owner Rinat Akhmetov had set their sights high for this season.
“We are determined at the club to get the maximums result this season. In the Champions League we are aiming to win every single match remaining in the tournament. If we manage to do it we will win the tournament.

“We want to progress. If we manage to beat Borussia it will definitely be a success for us. Only after that can we start to think about our next opponents.”