Published: 11:00, 11 August 2020
Shakhtar Donetsk’s pursuit of a second Europa League title will be tested when they face FC Basel in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday evening (20:00 kick-off).
The reigning Ukrainian champions lifted their first major continental prize in 2009 when they edged out a much-fancied Werder Bremen 2-1 in Istanbul.
FC Basel, meanwhile, have never tasted glory outside Swiss domestic football though in these unique circumstances must fancy their chances of correcting that statistic.
Shakhtar Donetsk & Basel’s previous line-ups:
- Shakhtar Donetsk (vs VfL Wolfsburg): Pyatov; Dodô, Khocholava*, Kryvtsov, Matvienko; Stepanenko, Marcos Antônio; Marlos, Alan Patrick, Taison; Júnior Moraes.
- FC Basel (vs Eintracht Frankfurt): Nikolic; Widmer, Cömert*, Alderete, Petretta; Frei, Xhaka; Stocker, Campo, Pululu; Arthur Cabral.
Shakhtar centre-back Davit Khocholava is suspended after being sent off in their impressive win over Wolfsburg. FC Basel also have a player serving a match ban; Eray Cömert is joined on the sidelines by injured trio of Jonas Omlin, Eric Ramires and Luca Zuffi.
Players to watch:
- Shakhtar Donetsk: Since dropping into the Europa League there’s not been a drop off in form regarding Shakhtar, who still heavily rely on their veteran Brazilian-born Ukrainian striker Júnior Moraes. The 33-year-old currently has three goals to his name and will again be Donetsk’s biggest attacking threat more so after bagging a brace against Wolfsburg last time out.
- FC Basel: FC Basel are one win away from equalling their best Europa League performance, when they reached the 2012/13 semi-finals, a survivor from that run — which ended at the hands of Chelsea — is Fabian Frei and the defensive midfielder has been in prolific form lately. Frei, a club legend that has amassed over 350 appearances for the Swiss giants, is looking to score in a fourth consecutive Europa League game.