Julian Nagelsmann‘s Hoffenheim make their UEFA Champions League group stage debut against Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine on Wednesday (kick-off: 6.55pm CEST/5.55pm BST/12.55pm ET).
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Hoffenheim reached the Champions League proper for the first time by virtue of their third-place Bundesliga finish last season. Only seven members of this current squad – Joshua Brenet, Adam Szalai, Steven Zuber, Havard Nordtveit, Nico Schulz, Ishak Belfodil and Leonardo Bittencourt – have prior experience of the competition. Nagelsmann’s side have had an indifferent start to the domestic campaign, alternating wins with defeats in their four competitive matches so far. Reiss Nelson, who has played in Europe previously with parent club Arsenal, scored on his debut at Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday, but it was not enough to prevent defeat. TSG are sweating on the fitness of captain Kevin Vogt after he suffered a bruised thigh in Dusseldorf.
Shakhtar are eight games into their Ukrainian Premier League campaign and sit top of the table with seven wins and one loss to their name. Winners of the 2009 UEFA Cup final against Werder Bremen, they feature in the Champions League group stage for the eighth time in the last 10 years after winning their league last season. Brazilian striker Junior Moraes is the club’s top scorer this campaign with seven goals in nine games. Due to damage to Shakhtar’s Donbass Arena, this game will be played 150 miles away at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv. English champions Manchester City and Lyon complete Group F.
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Probable line-ups
Shakhtar: Pyatov – Butko, Khocholava, Rakitskiy, Ismaily – Stepanenko (c), Alan Patrick, Marlos, Taison, Wellington – Moraes
Absentees: Dentinho, Olarenwaju Kayode (unspecified), Ordets (thigh)
Coach: Paulo Fonseca
Hoffenheim: Baumann – Kaderabek, Nordtveit, Posch, Schulz – Bittencourt, Vogt (c), Zuber – Joelinton, Szalai, Kramaric
Absentees: Akpoguma, Hübner (both concussion), Adams (ankle), Amiri (foot), Bicakcic (Achilles), Geiger (thigh), Grillitsch (shoulder)
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann
Match stats
- Nagelsmann’s side are competing in their ninth UEFA fixture (W1, D2, L5), but first in the Champions League. The Sinsheim club made their European debut against eventual runners-up Liverpool in last season’s Champions League play-offs, losing 6-3 on aggregate. They went on to finish fourth in their Europa League group.
- Hoffenheim are the 13th German club to play in the Champions League – a joint competition record with Spain.
- Eight different Hoffenheim scorers have shared 11 goals in Europe to date. Mark Uth, who joined Schalke in the summer, netted three.
- Adam Szalai is the leading scoring the Bundesliga this season with three goals in three matches.
- Shakhtar have drawn their last five home games against German opposition. The Ukrainians were paired with Bayer Leverkusen in the 2013/15 groups, losing 4-0 away and drawing 0-0 on home soil.
- Last season, Shakhtar won all four of their home group games, beating Napoli, Feyenoord and Man City, before going out to Roma in the last 16.
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