Preview

Shakhtar are to face Czech Hradec Kralove in the first friendly. The game will kick off at 12:00 Kyiv time.

All matches of the Orange-and-Blacks will be streamed live on Shakhtar’s YouTube channel and the FC Shakhtar app (App Store and Google Play).

Opponents

FC Hradec Kralove was founded in 1905 in the city of the same name and has won two trophies in its history: the team became the champions of Czechoslovakia (1960) and the winners of the Czech Cup (1995). In recent decades, they alternated periods of performances in the First and Second Leagues of the Czech Championship and returned to the elite in 2021. In the 2022/23 season, Hradec Kralove finished 8th in the First League, and in the current campaign they are in the 12th spot with 20 points after 19 matches (goal difference: 21–30). The team were eliminated from the Czech Cup in Round of 16, losing to Slavia Praha (0-2) in the added time.

Hradec Kralove are coached by 71-year-old Vaclav Kotal, who managed to work in almost half of the Czech clubs as a head coach or sports director during his long career. The most prolific player in this season is 23-year-old left-back Daniel Horak (4 goals and 3 assists in 22 matches). He is the most valuable player in the squad according to the transfermarkt portal: his value is EUR 400,000. In total, among 30 players of the Czech team, only three are internationals – all of them are from Slovakia.

This winter, Hradec Kralove played 5 friendly matches without losing: draws with Austria Wien (0-0), Sigma (1-1) and Macedonian Gostivar (1-1), and victories over Slovak Spartak (2-1) and Obolon Kyiv (2-0).