Preview

The final test game in Dubai will be held on the morning of February 7. The Ukrainian champions’ opponents are AIK Football, Sweden. 

Final chord
 
During the winter break, the Donetsk team played five games: vs Ludogorets, Dinamo Zagreb, Copenhagen, Slavia and Jiangsu Suning. The friendly game vs AIK will take place the next morning after the encounter with the Chinese side, so Paulo Fonseca intends to distribute the workload and use rotation. After the game, the team will return to Ukraine to prepare for the resumption of the Premier League season (vs Chornomorets in Kharkiv on February 16, you can buy tickets at shakhtar.com).
 
Vice-champions of Sweden
 
In November, AIK finished the season in the second spot and secured the Champions League qualifying round berth. They finished seven points adrift of Malmo. Performance wise, the team from Solna are the fifth in the domestic league (47 goals in 30 rounds) following the champions, Djurgarden, Elfsborg and Ostersund. However, the Miners’ opponents were the best defensively last year (conceding only 22 goals).
 
Names
 
AIK is headed by the 46-year-old Rikard Norling. In 2013, he claimed the league title with Malmo and was recognised as the best coach in Sweden, crowning the achievement with securing the Super Cup. Last season, AIK’s attacking leader was the Argentine Nicholas Stefanelli (9 goals in Allsvenskan), who has continued scoring goals during the current winter break (3 goals in two games).
 
The Shakhtar – AIK game kicks off at 9:00 Kyiv time (EET) on February 7. The live broadcast will be held on Futbol 1 channel.