On 16 February, the spring part of the season officially opens for Shakhtar. In Warsaw, at the stadium of the Polish Army, the Pitmen will face the French Rennes in the first round of the playoffs of the Europa League. The match starts at 19.45 Kyiv time.
Miner
Aroged informed in detail about the peculiarities of the preparation and functioning of Shakhtar on the eve of the confrontation with Rennes a few days ago. Therefore, now we only outline the most important.
Shakhtar were preparing for the resumption of the season in Turkey. There wards Jovicevich stayed for a month. During this time they had five control fights: one victory, one defeat and three draws.
On February 9, Shakhtar went to Warsaw, where, at Legia’s base, they continued direct preparations for the match against Rennes.
The Pitmen’s main loss this off-season is the departure of left-flank winger Mudrik to Chelsea for a record sum of one hundred million euros (70+30 bonuses). Defender Kryvtsov also left the club as a free agent, moving to Inter Miami.
Regarding acquisitions. Shakhtar bought goalkeeper Riznyk from Vorskla. Defender Rakitskiy returned to the Donetsk team, who previously played in the Turkish Adana. Also agreements with the Orange-and-Blacks were signed by the forward of the youth national team of Venezuela Kelsey and the defender of the national team of Georgia Gocholeishvili.
On the eve of the match against Rennes, there were four patients in the Pitmen’s club hospital – Shved, Ocheretko, Nazarina and Kulakov.
According to Shakhtar’s head coach Jovičević, his team actually completed all the work that was planned on the eve of the match against Rennes. The Croatian specialist assured that his wards were in a fighting mood. And that no matter how indispensable Mudrik, but his departure will not be a problem for the team.
Rennes
If the Pitmen made it to the playoffs of the Europa League from the Champions League, finishing third in the group, the Bretons in the autumn part of the season played in the group stage of the EL. By the way, they played very well: they took second place without losing a single match.
Memories from the actions of the French in the Europa League group are not the most pleasant for the Ukrainian fan, since Rennes then faced our Dynamo in one group. Unsuccessfully resisted: two defeats.
Genesio’s team went into the winter break in very good spirits, with a four-month unbeaten streak. However, the first game of the “red-blacks” in the resumed championship of France ended in failure for them: they lost to Reims.
But then “Rennes” rehabilitated by defeating “Nice” in a difficult duel. And then he completely created a sensation by beating the leader and champion – PSG.
Further, the “red-blacks” were thrown into the heat, then into the cold. The team flew out of the French Cup, losing to Marseille of our Ruslan Malinovsky, lost in Ligue 1 to Lorient, but then defeated Strasbourg of our Eduard Sobol.
The last two matches in the French championship for Rennes ended in a fiasco: the Bretons lost with the same score 1:3 to Lille and Toulouse.
After the 23rd round of the French championship, Rennes is in sixth place with forty points.
The main transfer news from the Rennes camp in the winter transfer window 2023 is the departure of striker Suleman to Southampton. For the Ghanaian striker, the Red-Blacks earned 25 million euros.
However, the “holy place” after the departure of Suleman was not empty for long. Rennes have signed striker Ekambi from Lyon.
Personal meetings
So far, the rivals have crossed paths in official matches only once. It was way back in 2005. Then the teams played in the same UEFA Cup group (according to the tournament regulations, the confrontation consisted of one match). The Pitmen won 1-0 away. The ball is in the account of the Brazilian Elano.
Forecast
Paulo Fonseca, a former Shakhtar mentor and now Lille head coach, noted that the Pitmen and Rennes would not be on an equal footing a priori. According to the Portuguese, Shakhtar are just starting to get involved in the season, having no serious game practice, while the Red-Blacks have been playing official matches for a long time.
And you can’t argue with this opinion. In terms of playing tone and functional readiness, the French team will have a clear advantage.
We shouldn’t forget about Shakhtar’s loss of the reactive Mudrik: without Mikhail, the Pitmen’s attack is no longer seen as dangerous.
On the other hand, Traore has finally fully recovered from the consequences of Traore’s serious injury, which should spoil the blood of the French team.
Should play in favor of our team and emotional mood, motivational charge. Just in these components, the team of Jovičević will at least not yield to the opponent.
Let’s not forget the fact that Rennes is not impressive in the last matches of the domestic championship: the team is experiencing a small game crisis.
All this taken together gives reason to believe that the match will be competitive and difficult for both sides. Let’s assume that it will result in a draw.
Approximate compositions:
“Miners”: Trubin, Hemp, Matvienko, Bondar, Mikhailichenko, Stepanenko, Sudakov, Bondarenko, Zubkov, Kryskiv, Traore
Rennes: Mandanda, Rodon, Truffaut, Theate, Spence, Santamaria, Bourijeau, Duet, Calimuendo, Docu, Guiry.
February 15, Thursday
