Shakhtar began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat of Napoli, a side that likes to keep the ball like their opponent tonight, City, who also began their campaign with a win, as they thrashed Dutch champions, Feyenoord 4-0 away.
In fact, since that opening day win at Feyenoord, Pep Guardiola’s side have played three games, scoring 13 times, including a recent 5-0 thumbing of Crystal Palace, conceding just once.
However, while he expects a difficult game against City’s attack, which he described as ‘one of the best in the world”, Fonseca says they know City’s weaknesses and have nothing to be scared of.
“They are one of the best teams in the world with one of the best attacks,” Fonseca told uefa.com. “They have scored 26 goals and conceded only two. We know all the strengths and weaknesses of the team, the players and the manager.
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“We are expecting a game that’s as difficult as it gets today. Given the short time we’ve had, we’ve tried to prepare our team as best as possible. I hope we’ll be ready.
“I always tell my players it is a great opportunity for us to showcase Ukrainian football and the country, an excellent opportunity to make Shakhtar an even greater club and the kind of club that is talked about.
“With this opportunity we will fight more than ever to try to take advantage. All our players are ambitious and we’ve worked a lot for this opportunity. So what do we have to be afraid of? Absolutely nothing, we just need to be ourselves.
England hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Ukrainians, who have lost in five of their six visits, scoring six times, conceding 14.
Well aware of Shakhtar’s terrible record in England, and City’s form, the 44-year-old Portuguese remains however optimistic as Shakhtar have won their last five European away games, and eight of their last ten matches outside Ukraine.
“Because of their [City’s] great players, 99% of people in the game will say that Shakhtar have little chance,” he added.
“The statistics are very difficult but I am one of those people who believe in happy endings and I’ll continue to believe.”
Man City and Shakhtar are meeting for the first time in Europe.
