BATE v Shakhtar background

FC BATE Borisov and FC Shakhtar Donetsk meet for the first time, with both teams hoping to draw closer to FC Porto at the head of Group H.

Match background

BATE
• BATE's sole previous competitive experience of Ukrainian opposition came in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage. In Minsk, Pavel Nekhaychik grabbed BATE's late consolation with FC Dynamo Kyiv already 4-0 ahead. 

• Nekhaychik had earlier scored a second-half equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw in Kyiv, Vitali Rodionov having put the visitors ahead. That was a maiden encounter for the Belarus club against a side from their opponents' nation.

• BATE recorded a much-needed 2-1 victory against Athletic Club in the first group stage fixture in their new Borisov Arena on matchday two, having started with a 6-0 reverse at Porto.

• Belarusian champions for an eighth successive season in 2013, BATE are in the group stage for the fourth time overall and the third time in four seasons.

• In Aleksandr Yermakovich's European bow as coach, they beat KS Skënderbeu in this season's second qualifying round thanks to Anri Khagush's goal in a 1-1 away draw after a goalless home leg.

• BATE lost 1-0 away – and went behind at home – before winning 3-1 against Debreceni VSC for a 3-2 aggregate victory in the third qualifying round.

• Another 1-1 away draw paved the way for a 3-0 home win against ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the play-offs.

Shakhtar
• Shakhtar were denied by a Porto equaliser in the fourth minute of added time on matchday two after they led 2-0 in the 85th minute. They had started with a goalless draw at Athletic.

• Their only experience of opponents from Belarus came in the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup, when they lost 2-1 at home to an FC Ataka-Aura Minsk side that included BATE head coach Yermakovich.   

• The Ukrainian champions, taking part in the group stage for the tenth time, won 2-0 at Real Sociedad de Fútbol on matchday one last season. They went on to lose away at Bayer 04 Leverkusen (0-4) and Manchester United FC (0-1), finishing third in the group on eight points.

• Transferring to the UEFA Europa League, they were eliminated in the round of 32, losing 2-1 at home to FC Viktoria Plzeň after a 1-1 away draw.

• Shakhtar have won only one of their last six European away games.

• Their best performance in the UEFA Champions League came in 2010/11 when they reached the quarter-finals.

Coach and player links
• Ukraine's Andriy Pyatov, Olexandr Kucher, Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Taras Stepanenko were 2-0 winners against Belarus trio Egor Filipenko, Denis Polyakov and Mikhail Gordeychuk in a UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier on 9 October at the Borisov Arena.

• Shakhtar's Pyatov and Shevchuk started in Ukraine's 1-0 win over Egor Filipenko's Belarus in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Lviv on 6 September 2008. Aleksandr Pavlov came on after 81 minutes for the visitors.

Match facts

BATE
• BATE have won four games and drawn two since losing 6-0 to FC Porto on matchday one.

• The Borisov side are 26 league fixtures unbeaten (17 wins, nine draws), one shy of the domestic record.

• A hat-trick from Aleksandr Karnitski helped BATE to a 4-1 victory at FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk – who Yermakovich's men lost to on the opening day of the season in late March – on 16 October.

• Karnitski has scored six goals in his last five outings for BATE.

• A goal down with four minutes remaining, BATE recovered to beat FC Slutsk 2-1 after extra time in the Belarusian Cup round of 16 on 11 October, defender Nemanja Tubić equalising with his first goal for the club.

• BATE have not lost at home in any competition since a 1-0 reverse against FC Torpedo Zhodino on 29 September 2013.

• Egor Filipenko travelled to Serbia for a medical examination after suffering a thigh tear in Belarus's 3-1 home loss to Slovakia on 12 October.

Shakhtar
• Olexandr Kucher and Darijo Srna are both a booking away from a suspension after picking up yellow cards on matchdays one and two.

• Luiz Adriano scored twice in Friday's 6-2 win at home to FC Volyn Lutsk to take his tally to 112 goals for Shakhtar, overtaking Vitali Starukhin in second on the club's all-time list. He is only two short of Andriy Vorobey's record.

• Shaktar were beaten 1-0 by FC Dynamo Kyiv on 5 October, their second successive league defeat. The Pitmen last lost back-to-back top-flight fixtures in April 2004.

• The Ukrainian champions have won just two of their last six games in all competitions. Prior to matchday one, Shakhtar had won eight out of eight this season.

• Mircea Lucescu's team, minus their internationals, succumbed 1-0 to Parma FC in an away friendly on 9 October.

• Serhiy Kryvtsov was ruled out for up to six weeks after injuring his right ankle against FC Zorya Luhansk on 21 September.