Despite falling behind so early, Shakhtar gave a good account of themselves in the opening stages, with Willian's pace down the left testing Alves and Luiz Adriano posing a constant problem as the focal point of the visitors' attacks.
Long a believer in the constant monitoring of players, Klinsmann has instilled a system of regularly testing the team's strength and fitness and proscribing specific training regimens so each player can mitigate his deficiencies.