Shakhtar's bid to halt Paris charge

FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Paris Saint-Germain meet for the first time in European football with the French champions looking to follow their winning start with another three points.

Match background

Shakhtar
• The Ukrainian Premier League runners-up, who are in their 11th group stage campaign, began with a 4-0 defeat at Real Madrid CF.

• They beat Fenerbahçe SK 3-0 at home in the third qualifying round to progress with the same aggregate score and in the play-offs they followed a 1-0 win at SK Rapid Wien with a 2-2 home draw.

• At home 12 months ago, Shakhtar drew 2-2 at home to FC Porto before a 5-0 win over FC BATE Borisov. A 1-0 defeat by Athletic Club did not stop them finishing second in Group H.

• In the round of 16 they drew 0-0 at home to FC Bayern München before succumbing 7-0 away.

• Shakhtar have lost only three of their last 16 home games in the UEFA Champions League group stage, winning eight. Their best performance in the UEFA Champions League came in 2010/11, when they reached the quarter-finals.

• All Shakhtar's previous assignments with French opposition have come in the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League. They won the last five, are unbeaten in seven home and away (W5 D2) and have not lost any of their five at home (W3 D2).

• In the 2008/09 UEFA Cup, on their way to securing Ukraine's maiden European silverware since independence, Shakhtar defeated Olympique de Marseille home and away in the quarter-finals.

Paris
• The French club, who won all four domestic trophies last season, beat Malmö FF 2-0 on matchday one.

• Paris are in their eighth group stage campaign, going out in the quarter-finals in each of the past three seasons. Their sole semi-final appearance came in 1994/95.

• Last season Laurent Blanc's side experienced all three results on their travels. In the round of 16 a 2-2 draw at Chelsea FC secured an away-goals victory.

• Their run ended against FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals, losing 3-1 at home and 2-0 away.

• Paris have only lost one game against Ukraine opponents: a 3-0 defeat at FC Dynamo Kyiv in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup quarter-final (agg:0-3). Their overall record is W7 D2 L1 (W3 D1 L1 away).

• Three seasons ago they won 2-0 at Dynamo in the UEFA Champions League group stage with Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring both. They also won the home game, a repeat of the 1994/95 edition when the French team won both games.

Coach and player links
• As France coach, Blanc twice beat Ukraine in Donetsk: 4-1 in a friendly on 6 June 2011 with Andrei Pyatov, Oleksandr Kucher and Vyacheslav Shevchuk all featuring as did Blaise Matuidi. Twelve months later, France won 2-0 in the UEFA EURO 2012 group stage.

• International team-mates:
Wellington, Fred, Bernard, Fernando, Ilsinho & Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Lucas, Marquinhos (Brazil).

Match facts

Shakhtar
• Taras Stepanenko is banned following his red card on matchday one.

• Shakhtar had won their previous five domestic matches without conceding a goal before Saturday's 3-2 win at FC Olimpik Donetsk.

• Alex Teixeira has scored in four successive Ukrainian Premier League fixtures, seven goals in total.

• Viktor Kovalenko struck his first senior goal for the Pitmen during their 5-0 win at FC Ternopil in the Ukrainian Cup round of 16 first leg on 23 September.

Paris
• Serge Aurier, suspended on matchday one, is available for selection.

• The last undefeated team in Ligue 1, Paris are 17 games unbeaten in all competitions – since that loss to Barcelona in the second leg of their 2014/15 UEFA Champions League quarter-final.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović scored his first club goal since 8 May as the capital side overcame EA Guingamp 3-0 at home on 22 September. The Sweden striker, who also had a late penalty saved, was also on target in Saturday's 4-1 win at FC Nantes and is a goal shy of Pauleta's club-record tally of 109.

• Edinson Cavani has scored 16 goals in his last 15 Ligue 1 outings, including one at Nantes.

• Gregory van der Wiel was replaced midway through the second half of the Guingamp match with groin pains.