Preview

Shakhtar will face Bulgarian CSKA Sofia in the first test match of the day. The game will kick off at 12:00 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

CSKA Sofia, which was founded in 1948, is the most decorated football club in Bulgaria. Throughout its history, the team won 31 domestic league titles, 21 national Cups and 4 Supercups. However, the last title of the Army dates back to 2008, but they always got into the top three of the championship during the last 8 seasons. And in the 2023/24 season the team finished in the 3rd spot, winning bronze medals.

In the current season, CSKA perform only in domestic competitions. The Sofia-based team have 26 points after 18 rounds (goal difference: 25–21) and are in the 8th spot in the Bulgarian First League. In the domestic Cup the team passed two qualifying rounds and already reached the quarter-finals.

The head coach of CSKA Sofia is the 46-year-old Bulgarian specialist Aleksandar Tomash – CSKA graduate, he played for the team for six seasons at the beginning of his career, began his coaching career in 2012, and took charge of the Reds in August 2024. The top goalscorer of the Sofia-based team in the first part of the season was Goduine Koyalipou, a forward from the Central African Republic (15 goals in 17 matches), but he moved to French Lens at the beginning of January for EUR 2 million. Currently, wingers Matthias Phaeton and Zymer Bytyqi (3 goals each) are the most prolific players in the team, Stanislav Shopov (7 assists) is the best assistant.

Shakhtar and CSKA Sofia met in the matches of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup round of 128, then the Bulgarians advanced further (0-3, 2-1). The teams also had two friendly games: the match in the summer of 2018 ended in a draw (0-0), and the Miners were stronger in July 2019 thanks to Danylo Sikan’s goal (1-0).