A big part of the fun of the UEFA Champions League is seeing what the obscure champions from the footballing hinterlands bring to the table. Although UEFA themselves are seemingly against it, as shown by their constant push to ensure certain teams compete every year regardless of if they finish at the top of the table or not, the fans really enjoy the fixtures: the big sides get a game against novel opposition, the small sides get to test themselves against Europe's best.

Obviously, the wealth gap between the big leagues and small is ginormous, but sides such as Ludogorets from Bulgaria, BATE Borisov from Belarus and, this year, Hungary's Ferencvaros always show up as have-a-go heroes and do their best to liven up the competition, even if actually being competitive is out of their grasp.

By virtue of both their domestic quality and the way the international coefficient system works, Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk appear in the Champions League almost every year – they've missed it once in the last decade – and they do so by working their way through the brutally long qualifiers, meaning that when they arrive in the Group Stage, they're typically in a weaker position than their richer, better opponents.

Only four times have they gotten out of the Group Stage. Three of those times, they were wiped out in the Round of 16; once, in the 2010/11 season, they reached the quarterfinals where they were destroyed 6-1 across both legs by Barcelona.

This history is what makes their result last week so surprising. On matchday 1, Shakhtar defeated Real Madrid 3-2; they won the first half 3-0 and held on as the La Liga giants attempted a comeback. Not only that, they did so with eight of their starting eleven ineligible due to COVID-19. Assuming they have tested negative, goalscoring midfielders Tete and Manor Solomon are guaranteed to start, otherwise, judging by how the coronavirus is running through Ukrainian football, their starting XI is up in the air.

Real Madrid are an incredible scalp to take at the best of times, it's even more amazing to do from such a weakened position and as such they go into their game on matchday 2 with all the momentum – and they will need it, as they are facing Serie A's Inter Milan, the side who crushed them in the Europa League semi-final 5-0 only two month ago.

In their first Champions League game this season, Inter lacked Ashley Young, Milan Skriniar, Roberto Gagliardini and Ionut Radu and Achraf Hakimi because of COVID-19. Because of this, they struggled against the Bundesliga's Borussia Monchengladbach. The game ended 2-2, with Romelu Lukaku salvaging a point for the Italians thanks to a goal in the 90th minute. This inability to excel in Europe seems to be a recurring issue for manager Antonio Conte's side.

Inter's Champions League win against Bayern Munich in 2009/10 wasn't simply a decade ago, it was from a totally different era, before the collapse of Italian football. They didn't compete in the Champions League at all between 2011/12 and 2018/19. Since returning, they have yet to get out of the Group Stage, a feat that is increasingly inexcusable – even during the pandemic – for a team that includes Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez, Ivan Perisic, Arturo Vidal and many other high quality players.

Expectations are high this year following a losing appearance in the Europa League final, and with the 5-0 win fresh in their minds, Inter should be able to hold their own against the Ukrainians and get a vital three points. But, as last week showed, this is a different, younger, more aggressive Shakhtar Donetsk side and, as 2020 has shown all year, anything can happen.