Preview

The opponents of Paulo Fonseca’s men are Qarabag, the champions of Azerbaijan.
 
Webcast at the site
 
You can watch the Shakhtar vs Qarabag game live at shakhtar.com. The starting whistle will be sounded at 10:00 EET on January 26. This test game will end the first training camp programme, with the second stage of the Miners' training in Turkey kicking off already on January 29.
 
European competition participants
 
The club from Agdam won the domestic league title five times in a row (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), approaching the capital-based Neftci for the number of titles. In the 2017/18 season, Qarabag was the first club of Azerbaijan to take part in the main round of the Champions League. The Horsemen got a very tough group featuring Roma, Chelsea, and Atletico Madrid, in which Gurban Gurbanov's men claimed the fourth spot after having twice nicked points off the Madrid side.
 
This season, Qarabag got into the same Europa League quartet with Vorskla, Arsenal, and Sporting. The Agdam team exchanged narrow away wins (1-0) with the Poltava outfit, sitting bottom of the group table.
 
Opponents’ performance
 
In the Azerbaijani championship, they have covered half the distance. The current title holders are second (30 points), being three points adrift of Neftci and the most prolific side in the league though (32 goals). The top scorer is Mahir Madatov (7 goals).
 
Previous meeting
 
On June 23, 2014, Shakhtar and Qarabag had a friendly match in Going, Austria. The Orange-and-Blacks won 2-0, with Facundo Ferreyra grabbing a brace in the second half. Also, at various times, the Miners played the Azerbaijani Khazar Lankaran FK, Neftci PFK, and the national team, winning on all occasions.