Preview

Shakhtar are to face Hajduk Split (Croatia). The game will kick off at 19:30 Kyiv time.

All friendlies of the Orange-and-Blacks will be streamed live on Shakhtar’s YouTube channel and the FC Shakhtar mobile application (App Store and Google Play) in the Live section.

Opponents

HNK Hajduk Split, founded in 1911, is one of the most decorated clubs in its country. The team became the champions and the winners of the Yugoslav Cup 9 times, and also won 6 Croatian League titles, 8 domestic Cups and 5 Super Cups. However, the last gold awards of Hajduk Split date back to 2005, but in 2022 and 2023, they won the cup trophies. In the 2023/24 season, the Whites were in the lead in the Croatian First League for a long time, but eventually finished the championship in the 3rd spot and qualified for the UEFA Conference League.

From June 2024, the head coach of Hajduk is Gennaro Gattuso. In the previous season, the Italian specialist worked at Marseille, which Shakhtar faced in the Europa League. This summer, a famous Croatian player, 35-year-old midfielder Ivan Perisic, who returned from Tottenham, joined the team from Split. The team leader is experienced 30-year-old forward Marko Livaja with 12 goals and 4 assists in the previous season. According to Transfermarkt, the most valuable player is 18-year-old American-Lithuanian attacking midfielder Rokas Pukstas (EUR 8 million). During the summer pre-season, Hajduk Split held one friendly match, losing to Slovenian Radomlje (0-1).

Shakhtar and Hajduk last met on May 1, 2022 in the charity match of the Shakhtar Tour for Peace in Ukraine in Split. One of the initiators of the match was Darijo Srna, who is a graduate of Hajduk, and now he is the legend of Shakhtar and the Sporting Director of the club. The game ended with a spectacular 3-3 draw. Ljubicic (two goals) and Lazar scored for the Croats, and Topalov, Stasiuk and Boriachuk scored for the Miners.