Preview

Before the match
 
Shakhtar shift their attention from the domestic league to the Champions League, where they have 3 points after two games thanks to the opening round win. The Group F table is topped by Manchester City boasting all wins. In the parallel game, the English side will measure their strength vs SSC Napoli, Italy.
 
The Miners will set off for the Netherlands on the morning of October 16. At 18:30 Kyiv time (EET), the Feyenoord Stadium will host a press conference by Shakhtar head coach Paulo Fonseca and midfielder Fred, with the Miners conducting an open training session at 19:00.
 
Opponents
 
Last season, Feyenoord claimed the Dutch league title after 18 years without claiming gold medals. The team’s outstanding former player Giovanni van Bronckhorst brought them to the title triumph.
 
Shakhtar Donetsk’s opponents are also among the Eredivisie 2017/18 top sides (sitting in the third spot after eight rounds and going two points adrift of PSV). Goal difference is 16-6. Besides a failure vs their major rivals (0-1 in Eindhoven), Feyenoord lost to Breda three weeks ago (0-2), still managing to defeat Twente, Excelsior, Willem II, Heracles and AZ.
 
In the recent domestic league game on October 14, the Rotterdam team entertained Zwolle just to be tied by the latter (0-0). However, Feyenoord are to lock horns with the Donetsk team at home as well, so they have enough time to recover before the Champions League fixture.

The two successive games vs Shakhtar are of key importance for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men as an opportunity to continue in European competitions, because they suffered defeats in the previous meetings vs Manchester City and Napoli.