Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta facts

After goalless draws in their respective UEFA Champions League openers, Shakhtar Donetsk and Atalanta will look for their first wins when they meet at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.

While Shakhtar earned a point away to debutants Bologna on Matchday 1, Atalanta had to settle for a draw at home to Arsenal, Mateo Retegui having a second-half penalty saved.

Previous meetings

2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage
Atalanta 1-2 Shakhtar
Shakhtar 0-3 Atalanta
Atalanta's first home Champions League game ended in defeat at San Siro in Milan, Duván Zapata's 28th-minute opener – Josip Iličić having missed a penalty 12 minutes earlier – cancelled out by Júnior Moraes (41) with substitute Manor Solomon snatching victory for Luis Castro's Shakhtar five minutes into added time.

Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta would, however, qualify for the round of 16 at Shakhtar's expense with a 3-0 win in Kharkiv on Matchday 6. Timothy Castagne (66), Mario Pašalić (80) and Robin Gosens (90+4) got the goals, the latter two after Shakhtar's Dodô had been sent off with 13 minutes left.

Form guide

Shakhtar

Record vs Italian clubs: W7 D6 F19 F21 A61
Home record vs Italian clubs: W5 D2 L8

Prior to their Matchday 1 draw at Atalanta, Shakhtar were last paired with Italian opposition in the 2021/22 group stage, drawing 0-0 at home to Inter before a 0-2 away defeat.

That scoreless draw in Kyiv made it four home game without a win against Italian visitors (D2 L2), the sequence starting with their 2019 defeat against Atalanta.

The away win against Atalanta in 2019/20 is Shakhtar's only success in their last ten contests with Italian sides, home and away (D3 L6).

The Ukrainian side are making an eighth successive appearance in the Champions League proper, and a 19th overall. They have featured in all but one of the last 15 seasons.

The Pitmen have failed to progress to the knockout rounds in each of the last six campaigns.

In 2023/24, Shakhtar were third in Group H behind Barcelona and Porto despite winning three of their six games. They lost the others, including a decisive 5-3 defeat in Portugal on Matchday 6.

That sent them into the UEFA Europa League where Marseille proved too strong in their knockout round play-off (2-2 h, 1-3 a).

Shakhtar's most successful Champions League campaign came in 2010/11, when they reached the quarter-finals before losing 6-1 on aggregate to eventual champions Barcelona.

The Pitmen have won only eight of their last 27 home European games (D12 L7).

Shakhtar have eight wins in their last 37 matches in the Champions League proper, home and away (D14 L15).

Under Marino Pušić, who had been appointed in October, Shakhtar won their 15th Ukrainian Premier League in 2023/24. They also lifted the Ukrainian Cup for a record 14th time; it was their ninth domestic double.

Atalanta

Record vs Ukrainian clubs: W1 D0 L1 F4 A2
Away record vs Ukrainian clubs: W1 D1 L0

Atalanta's two matches against Shakhtar are their only games against Ukrainian opponents.

Atalanta claimed only the club's second major silverware – and a first top-flight trophy since the 1962/63 Coppa Italia – in 2023/24, defeating German champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin with Ademola Lookman scoring the first final hat-trick.

Gasperini's team had won their section ahead of Sporting CP, Sturm Graz and Raków Częstochowa before edging past Sporting again in the round of 16 (1-1 a, 2-1). They stunned Liverpool in the quarter-finals (3-0 a, 0-1 h) and then got the better of Marseille (1-1 a, 3-0 h) to set up that final triumph.

Atalanta are taking part in the Champions League proper for the fourth time – all since 2019 – in 2024/25.

La Dea are without a win in four Champions League away games (D2 L2) having won five of their first seven matches (L2).

The Italian side have one victory in their last nine Champions League matches (D4 L4).

The Bergamo club were fourth in Serie A last season, their fifth top-four finish in eight seasons.

Atalanta began the season with a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw on 14 August.

Links and trivia

Shakhtar assistant coach Mario Stanić played in Serie A with Parma between 1996 and 2000. He was part of the squad that won the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia in 1998/99.

Latest news

Shakhtar

The Pitmen conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Veres Rivne on Friday.

Shakhtar scored nine goals in their previous two league wins, beating Karpaty Lviv 5-2 on 14 September and Obolon Kyiv 4-0 on 23 September.

Artem Bondarenko, who scored a hat-trick against Karpaty, is Shakhtar's top scorer this season on four goals, one more than Georgiy Sudakov, who scored on Friday, and Danylo Sikan.

Sikan has not played since breaking his nose at Bologna on Matchday 1.

Yukhym Konoplia returned on Friday after suffering a side injury at Bologna.

The Pitmen have lost two of their first seven league games this season, winning four; they suffered only three defeats in the whole of 2023/24.

Atalanta

On Saturday a 90th-minute equaliser by Lazar Samardžić rescued a 1-1 draw at ten-man Bologna.

Atalanta have conceded 12 goals in their first six league games; no team in Serie A has shipped more this season.

Atalanta suffered their third defeat of the season on 24 September, going down 2-3 at home to Como.

Samardžić came on for Marco Brescianini at Bologna after the latter suffered a thigh injury.

Gianluca Scamacca and Giorgio Scalvini have both been ruled out until 2025 by knee ligament injuries.

Ben Godfrey (back) and Rafael Tolói (thigh) have sat out Atalanta's last four games, although the former was an unused replacement on Saturday.