Paris trip gives Shakhtar the chance to take third

Paris Saint-Germain are assured of finishing in second place in Group A, but FC Shakhtar Donetsk are still fighting to continue their European adventure. The Ukrainian side will qualify for the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League if they match or better Malmö FF's result at section winners Real Madrid CF.

• On 30 September Paris made it two wins from their first two outings in Group A with a 3-0 victory in Ukraine, the sides' first competitive encounter. Serge Aurier and David Luiz gave them an early two-goal lead with Darijo Srna's own goal on the final whistle completing a comfortable victory.

Match background

Paris
• The French club, in their eighth group stage campaign, began with a 2-0 home win against Malmö and also won 5-0 in Sweden on matchday five. They took only one point from two games with Madrid, however, drawing 0-0 at home and losing 1-0 away.

• Having gone out in the quarter-finals in each of the past three seasons, Paris are aiming for a second semi-final appearance. They reached the last four in 1994/95.

• Last season Laurent Blanc's side won all three home group games before drawing 1-1 against Chelsea FC in the round of 16 first leg, going on to win the tie on away goals.

• They have only lost one game against opponents from Ukraine, a 3-0 defeat at FC Dynamo Kyiv in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup quarter-final (agg: 0-3). Their overall record is W8 D2 L1 (W4 D1 home).

• Paris have conceded in only one home match against Ukrainian opposition, a 4-1 win over Dynamo in the 2012/13 group stage. They won 2-0 away with Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring both; the French team also beat Dynamo home and away in the 1994/95 group stage.

Shakhtar
• Shakhtar have three points, the same as Malmö, but because of the head-to-head they will finish third as long as they at least match the Swedish side's points tally.

• The Ukrainian Premier League runners-up, who are in their 11th group stage campaign, lost 4-0 at Real Madrid on matchday one. After losing to Paris, a 1-0 reverse at Malmö on 21 October made it three defeats in a row, but the return fixture two weeks later offered the opportunity to put their first points on the board as they triumphed 4-0.

• In this year's qualifying rounds, Shakhtar drew 0-0 at Fenerbahçe SK (3-0 aggregate) and won 1-0 at SK Rapid Wien (3-2 aggregate).

• Shakhtar's best UEFA Champions League performance came in 2010/11, when they reached the quarter-finals.

• They won one (7-0 at FC BATE Borisov on matchday three, Luiz Adriano scoring a competition record-equalling five goals), drew two and lost one (7-0 at FC Bayern München in the round of 16 second leg) of their four away games in last season's competition.

• Before this season, all Shakhtar's assignments with French opposition had come in the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League. They had won the previous five and were unbeaten in seven home and away (W5 D2).

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

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 Nem, Fred, Bernard & Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Lucas, Marquinhos (Brazil).

Match facts

Paris
• Following a 3-0 win against OGC Nice on 4 December, the capital outfit are 30 games unbeaten – 27 wins – in domestic competition since a 3-2 defeat by FC Girondins de Bordeaux on 15 March.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović scored twice in Nice to become Paris's all-time top scorer in Ligue 1 with 87 goals. The Sweden captain previously shared that record with Mustapha Dahleb.

• Ibrahimović overtook Pauleta's total of 109 to become Paris' all-time top scorer with two penalties against Olympique de Marseille on 4 October.

• Jean-Kévin Augustin, a UEFA Youth League regular who made his UEFA Champions League debut on matchday five, became the youngest goalscorer in Ligue 1 this season (18 years 166 days) when he struck in the 4-1 home victory over ES Troyes AC on 28 November.

• Paris failed to score in the league for the first time since 1 March when they drew 0-0 at Angers SCO on 1 December, a match in which Blaise Matuidi sustained a left thigh injury.

• Marco Verratti has not played since picking up a knee injury on matchday four.

• Javier Pastore, who has not featured since 21 October, has been ruled out for the rest of the year. After a bout of conjunctivitis and a calf injury, the Argentinian international is sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained ahead of matchday five.

Shakhtar
• Shakhtar have won their last 14 domestic fixtures.

• The Pitmen defeated FC Karpaty Lviv 3-0 on 3 December in their final league match before the Ukrainian winter break.

• Shakhtar's next domestic fixture is the first leg of their Ukrainian Cup quarter-final against FC Vorskla Poltava on 2 March.

• Alex Teixeira has 22 league goals in 15 outings this season, already five more than his division-leading tally of 17 last term. He has scored two goals in a match on ten occasions in 2015/16.

• The former CR Vasco da Gama player has managed 20 goals in his last 15 appearances in all competitions.

• Olexandr Gladkiy travelled to Paris despite an ankle injury.