Preview

Shakhtar will face Bulgarian champions Ludogorets in the second test match of the day. The game will kick off at 16:00 Kyiv time.

All friendlies of the Orange-and-Blacks are streamed live on Shakhtar’s YouTube channel and the FC Shakhtar mobile app (App Store and Google Play) in the Live section.

Opponent

Ludogorets is a team from Razgrad, which dates back to 1945. However, the club has reached its true golden age at the modern stage, because the Eagles have been dominating Bulgarian football since 2012, having won 13 titles in a row. The Razgrad-based team left no chances to the opponents in the previous 2023/24 season as well, winning the gold medals by 31 points.

The team regularly represent Bulgaria in the European arena. In the 2024/25 season, Ludogorets started their campaign in the Champions League qualification, where they successfully passed two qualifying rounds, but eventually lost to Qarabag and were relegated to the UEFA Europa League. The Eagles have played 6 matches so far in the league phase of this tournament, with 3 draws and 3 losses, and they are currently in the 32nd spot in the table with 3 points (goal difference: 3–8), keeping only theoretical chances of reaching the play-offs. The Razgrad-based team are leading the Bulgarian First League as usual, having gained 53 points in 19 matches (goal difference: 43–6) and holding a 13-point advantage over their nearest opponents. The team also continue to compete in the domestic Cup.

From the end of September 2024, the head coach of Ludogorets is Croatian specialist Igor Jovicevic. Shakhtar fans know him well, because he coached the Pitmen in the 2022/23 season and led them to the title of the champions of Ukraine. The most prolific players of the Razgrad-based team this season are Brazilians Rwan Cruz (11 goals and 5 assists) and Rick (6 goals and 8 assists), Swiss Kwadwo Duah (7 goals). Ghanaian winger Bernard Tekpetey is the club’s most valuable player according to the Transfermarkt (transfer value is EUR 5.5 million).

The champions of Bulgaria managed to hold two friendly matches during the winter pre-season: they played a draw with Romanian Botosani (1-1) and defeated Swiss Young Boys (1-0). The Eagles also have a friendly with Japanese Sanfrecce Hiroshima scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Shakhtar and Ludogorets have not locked horns in the competitive games, but they regularly meet at the training camps. In the winter of 2018, 2021 and 2023, the test matches of these rivals ended with the same 2-2 draw, and in the summer of 2019, the Miners won 3-0.