Shakhtar look to add to Feyenoord struggles

FC Shakhtar Donetsk will be looking to build on their valuable away win at Feyenoord when they welcome the Dutch champions to Ukraine.

• Shakhtar moved three points clear in second place in Group F with a 2-1 success in Rotterdam on matchday three that left their opponents bottom of the section without a point.

• Feyenoord will therefore be unable to finish in the top two if they do not win in Ukraine, where they have never been victorious in four previous visits.

Match background

Shakhtar
• This is Shakhtar's sixth game against a club from the Netherlands – they lost all the first four, scoring three goals and conceding ten, before winning at Feyenoord.

• Their most recent contests had come against AZ Alkmaar in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 16, a 3-1 home defeat preceding a 2-1 reverse in the Netherlands (2-5 on aggregate).

• In the same competition in 1999/2000, Shakhtar were beaten 2-0 at Roda JC and 3-1 at home in the first round (1-5 aggregate).

• Shakhtar started 2017/18 with a 2-1 win at home to SSC Napoli on matchday one. The Donetsk team – who are playing their UEFA Champions League home games in Kharkiv this season, due to the political situation in Ukraine – have won only four of their last 13 home fixtures in the competition, group stage to final.

• Márcio Azevedo, Taison and Marlos all called the OSK Metalist Stadium home before joining Shakhtar from FC Metalist Kharkiv.

• Shakhtar are making their seventh group stage appearance in eight seasons and their 12th in total – all since 2000. They have got to the last 16 on three occasions: 2010/11 (when they reached the quarter-finals), 2012/13 and 2014/15.

• In 2016/17, the Ukrainian side lost to BSC Young Boys in the third qualifying round (2-0 home, 0-2 away, 2-4 on penalties). They eventually made it to the UEFA Europa League round of 32, going down to RC Celta de Vigo (1-0 away, 0-2 home aet).

• That Celta defeat ended Shakhtar's five-game winning run, and a nine-match unbeaten streak, at home in Europe.

Feyenoord
• Feyenoord lost 3-1 at Napoli in their second fixture, making the 3-0 victory at R. Standard de Liège in the UEFA Europa League group stage on 12 December 2014 the only win in their last 15 European away games (D3 L12).

• Feyenoord's last away victory in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, was the 1-0 triumph at Newcastle United FC on 24 September 2002.

• The Dutch side's away record against clubs from Ukraine is W0 D2 L2. Their most recent fixtures came in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League group stage, where they won 1-0 at home to FC Zoryn Luhansk before a 1-1 away draw in Odessa.

• After beating Zorya 4-3 at home in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League play-offs following a 1-1 away draw, Feyenoord were unbeaten in four matches (W2 D2) against Ukrainian opposition, since a 1-0 home loss to FC Dynamo Kyiv in August 2012. That last result had been the third defeat in their first four games against teams from Ukraine, the other drawn.

• Having lifted a first Eredivisie title in 18 years last season, Feyenoord are in the last 32 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2002/03, when they were eliminated in the first group stage.

• The Rotterdammers lost in the third qualifying round in both 2012/13 (to Dynamo Kyiv) and 2014/15 (to Beşiktaş JK).

Coach and player links
• Giovanni van Bronckhorst was in the Netherlands side that recorded a 3-0 friendly win against Ukraine at the Stadion Feijenoord on 24 May 2008.

• Andriy Pyatov and Kenneth Vermeer faced each other twice at the 2006 UEFA Under-21 Championship in Portugal. Ukraine beat Netherlands 2-1 in the group stage but were defeated 3-0 in the final.

Match facts

Shakhtar
• Yaroslav Rakitskiy serves a one-game suspension after being sent off on matchday three.

• Shakhtar are unbeaten in 13 domestic matches, winning ten. They have won 12 and drawn three of their last 15 games in all competitions.

• Shakhtar had won their last six home games in all competitions before Saturday's 1-1 league draw with FC Stal Kamianske.

• Before Saturday Shakhtar had not scored just once in a game this season: they have hit two eight times, three on four occasions and four twice. Paulo Fonseca's side have drawn four blanks.

• Shakhtar reached a 12th straight Ukrainian Cup quarter-final with a thrilling 4-3 victory after extra time at Zorya.

• Facundo Ferreyra struck twice, including a 90th-minute equaliser, with substitutes Viktor Kovalenko and Gustavo Blanco Leschuk also on target, the latter scoring the winner in the 117th minute.

• Marlos and Bernard missed the game against Zorya while David Khocholava made only his second start of the season.

Feyenoord
• Karim El Ahmadi is one booking away from a ban.

• Feyenoord have lost six of their last 11 matches in all competitions, with two of their three victories in that spell coming via the Dutch Cup.

• Feyenoord have missed their last four penalties.

• Feyenoord suffered a 4-1 home defeat against AFC Ajax on 22 October. Jens Toornstra scored for the first time since August while Nicolai Jørgensen missed a penalty.

• AVV Swift were dispatched 4-1 on 25 October as Feyenoord qualified for the Dutch Cup round of 16.

• Sam Larsson scored the first hat-trick of his professional career in that game while Michiel Kramer, who earlier missed a penalty, also was on target.

• Goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer started for the first time this season following a hand injury while 17-year-old defender Lutsharel Geertruida made his debut against Swift.

• Feyenoord were held 1-1 at lowly Roda JC on Saturday despite Steven Berghiuis scoring his ninth goal of the season.