Cesar confident of success

Posted Tuesday, September 28, 2010 by PA

Paulo Cesar is confident Braga will find Shakhtar Donetsk more on their level after a Champions League baptism of fire against Arsenal two weeks ago.

The Portuguese side were thumped 6-0 by the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in their first group match in Europe's premier club competition.

Their second Group H clash sees them take on Ukrainian champions Shakhtar, who were 1-0 winners over Partizan Belgrade in their opening match.

Brazilian winger Cesar told www.uefa.com: "The boys are calm, we know what we have to do, and we are sure and completely confident in our own quality and capabilities.

"Home games in the Champions League are of massive importance and we have to win ours. Braga have always been strong at home, always a tough team to beat, and we expect a great result in our debut match here.

"We know it's going to be a tough match, but we also know we have what it takes to win. What we have to do is make no mistakes and keep them under pressure.

"Shakhtar are a great team - they're Ukrainian champions for a reason - but we are sure they're at our level."

Braga, who beat Celtic and Sevilla to reach the group stages, can certainly draw confidence from their home form having won 17 or their 18 league matches under coach Domingos Paciencia.

They will definitely be without Quim, who is expected to be out until the new year after rupturing his Achilles tendon, while Alberto Rodriguez (thigh) is a doubt.

Shakhtar have won 12 of their 14 matches this season and once again sit on top of their domestic league.

The Ukrainians were the final UEFA Cup winners in 2009 before the competition was rebranded as the Europa League, and striker Eduardo believes their extra European experience could prove crucial.

The former Arsenal forward told shakhtar.com: "Braga are technically very strong as they have a lot of Brazilian players. They have the will to win but there is one shortcoming - they do not have the Champions League experience."

Fernandinho is expected to miss the group stage with a broken leg while Dmytro Chygrynskiy pulled his hamstring at the end of August and has not featured since.