Shakhtar's final friendly before the Champions League: a preview of the match against Bulgarian side Ludogorets.

On Wednesday, January 15, Donetsk's "Shakhtar" will face "Ludogorets" in addition to the Bulgarian CSKA during their training camp in Turkey. The match will take place in the city of Belek and is set to kick off at 16:00 Kyiv time.

"Ludogorets" was established in 2001. Over its 24-year history, the team has become a 13-time champion of Bulgaria. They also boast 3 Cups and 6 Super Cups of Bulgaria in their collection.

The rivalry is further intensified by the fact that the Bulgarian team is currently led by former "Shakhtar" coach Igor Jovićević, with his assistants being Ukrainians Andriy Khanas and Yuriy Benyo. The Croatian specialist, who has also worked with "Karpaty" and SC "Dnipro-1" in Ukraine, took charge of "Ludogorets" in September 2024 and has achieved significant success. Currently, the team confidently leads the local championship, ahead of their closest competitor, Plovdiv's "Botev," by 13 points.

In their history, "Shakhtar" and "Ludogorets" have met 4 times (all friendly matches). The teams have drawn three times (all three matches ended with the same score of 2:2) and once the Donetsk team triumphed (3:0).

FAVBET sees no clear favorite in the matchup. The odds for a "Shakhtar" victory are set at 2.45, while "Ludogorets" success is valued at 2.53. A draw is quoted at 3.85. Experts anticipate a high-scoring match: the standard total of over 2.5 is at 1.57, while under 2.5 stands at 2.32.

Where to watch the friendly match between "Shakhtar" and "Ludogorets"

All of Donetsk's friendlies will be broadcast live on the club's YouTube channel. The match against the Bulgarians can be found here.