Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu has challenged his side to become "heroes" by beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Lucescu's troops host the 2013 champions in Ukraine for the first leg of their round-of-16 clash this evening.
However, Shakhtar have not had a competitive fixture since mid-December, while Bayern warmed up for the visit in ruthless fashion by demolishing Hamburger SV 8-0 at the weekend.
"We will be heroes if we beat Bayern and qualify for the next stage," he told UEFA.com. "Our last competitive game was 10 weeks ago and also you know about the conditions we have been working in during this season.
"Almost everyone will tell you Bayern are going to qualify for the quarter-finals, especially after their 8-0 win in the last league match.
"Bayern have played four competitive games this year so their coach knows very well the potential of his players, while we have only played friendlies and we will only see our players' condition."
With nine Champions League goals, Shakhtar hitman Luiz Adriano leads the way in the goalscoring charts this season.
Shane Callaghan
