Preview

August 28, Geneva, Stade de Genève, 22:00
Broadcast in Ukraine will be available on UPL.TV

Match build-up

The first leg between the teams in Krakow last week ended in a draw. The Swiss side opened the scoring in the 18th minute, with Fomba netting after a corner delivery. After that and until the final whistle, the Miners had a noticeable advantage, storming the opponents’ goal, taking 22 shots but scoring only once – in the 72nd minute, also from a corner, Valerii Bondar found the net – 1-1.

This week, Shakhtar footballers had a break in the Ukrainian league and were able to complete a full preparatory cycle for the first time since the beginning of August. The team rested for several days after the match in Poland and gathered in Geneva on Monday to prepare for the game. Among the positive squad news is the return of midfielder Dmytro Kryskiv to training in the general group. There is also a chance that forward Kaua Elias will play. The Orange-and-Blacks will definitely be without Traore, Eguinaldo, and Newertton.

Opponents

Servette started the season optimistically – with an away win in the Champions League qualifying over Viktoria Plzeň (1-0), but lost the return leg to the Czechs at home (1-3) and were eliminated from the tournament. The Geneva side also suffered in the Europa League qualifiers, losing twice to Dutch club Utrecht (1-3, 1-2), which sent them into the Conference League. Their start in the Swiss league has also been unsuccessful – defeats to Young Boys (1-3) and St. Gallen (1-4), plus a draw with Grasshopper (1-1), leave Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side at the bottom of the Super League table. Servette missed the previous round as well and also had a week to prepare for the match against Shakhtar.

Stadium

Stade de Genève was opened in 2003 in Lancy (a suburb of Geneva) on the site of Servette FC’s former home ground Stade des Charmilles. The stadium hosted matches at the 2008 European Championship, including the Group A game between Türkiye and Czechia (3-2), where Shakhtar’s current coach Arda Turan played and scored. The most recent renovation took place in 2019–2020, when the pitch was replaced with a hybrid surface. The arena currently has a capacity of 30,084.

The Servette vs Shakhtar match will be officiated by the judging panel from Spain: referee – Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez, assistant referees – Guadalupe Porras Ayuso and Ángel Nevado, VAR – Cesar Soto Grado.