Preview

Shakhtar will face Ajax in the test match.

The game kicks off at 15:00 Kyiv time and will take place on the field of Sportcomplex De Toekomst. The live stream of the test matches of the Orange-and-Blacks at the training camp are available on Shakhtar’s YouTube channel. Also, follow all events around the match on the updated FC Shakhtar application.

The app is available on App Store and Google Play.

Opponents

Ajax is the most awarded club in the Netherlands: for 123 years of their history, the Amsterdam team won 36 league titles, 20 domestic Cups and 9 Super Cups, as well became the UEFA Champions League winners 4 times. However, the Red-and-Whites cannot record the 2022/23 season as an asset – the team finished in the 3rd spot in the Eredivisie table, lost to PSV in the Dutch Cup finals, and ended the European campaign back in February, losing in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 to the German Union.

In the summer, Ajax got a new head coach, 49-year-old Maurice Steijn, who headed Sparta Rotterdam last season. The team have recently undergone significant personnel changes: thus, the leading defender of the team, Jurrien Timber, was sold to the London-based Arsenal for EUR 40 million and one of the long-term leaders, the Serbian winger Dusan Tadic (13 goals and 21 assists in the previous season), left the club as a free agent. The main incoming transfer so far is the purchase of 20-year-old Roma central midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic for EUR 7.5 million. 21-year-old attacking midfielder from Ghana Mohammed Kudus (18 goals and 7 assists in the 2022/23 season), winger Steven Bergwijn (16 goals and 6 assists) and Mexican defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez can be noted in the current Ajax squad.

In preparation for the season, which will start in the Netherlands in the middle of August, the Amsterdam side held 1 friendly, tying with Den Bosch (2-2) with the half-reserve squad. Juniors Misehouy and Kalokoh scored for the Red-and-Whites.

We remind that a year ago, Ajax and Shakhtar met in the Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace in Ukraine charity match at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam and the match ended with a 3-1 win of the hosts (Tadic, 45′; Berghuis, 73′; Kudus, 85′ – Mudryk, 33′).