Preview

The opponents of Shakhtar in the test match will be the representatives of Eredivisie Utrecht.

The game will start at 15:00 Kyiv time. The live stream of the test matches of the Orange-and-Blacks at the training camp is 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

Utrecht, created in the city of the same name in July 1970, have the status of a strong average team in Dutch football: since the day of its foundation, the club has never left Eredivisie, but it did not rank higher than 3rd place (1980/81 season). At the same time, the team are nicknamed Cupfighters for a reason, because they won the Dutch Cup three times in history (1985, 2003, 2004). In the previous season, the White-and-Reds finished in 7th spot in the Dutch Championship, but lost in the play-offs and remained without European competitions for the fourth year in a row.

Since December 2022, Utrecht are coached by Danish manager Michael Silberbauer. It is the first experience of working as a head coach for the 42-year-old specialist, because previously he was an assistant at Luzern, Basel and Midtjylland. It is difficult to find star players in the line-up – the club is focused on the development and resale of young talents. So, the best player of the team in the last season was 23-year-old Greek forward Anastasios Douvikas, who scored 22 goals and provided 4 assists in 38 matches. Among the more famous names, we can single out former player of Feyenoord Jens Toornstra and experienced forward Bas Dost. Ruben Kluivert, the youngest of three footballer sons of famous Patrick Kluivert, also plays for Utrecht.

During the summer pre-season, Utrecht played 2 friendly matches and lost both times to Belgian opponents – Gent (0-2) and Charleroi (1-2).

A year ago, on July 30, 2022, Utrecht and Shakhtar also played a test match, which ended in a draw – 2-2 (Redan, 7′; Kryvtsov, 65′, o/g – Bondarenko, 41′; Kryskiv, 47′).