Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) on August 11 thrashed Basel (Switzerland) behind closed doors at Gelsenkirchen's Arena AufSchalke and advanced to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.
According to UEFA's decision, the finals are single-leg ties. All meetings are held in Germany, the club's press service notes.
Luís Castro, Shakhtar coach, said: "We played fantastically against a very difficult team. We prepared a lot and the semi-final was our aim. We had some fantastic moments," UEFA press service reports, adding that Shakhtar "were irresistible from the off in Gelsenkirchen, not so much dominating the stage as writing it, directing it and then playing all the lead roles."
The Miners, led by a Portuguese manager Luis Castro, have previously made it past Benfica (2-1 and 3-3) and Wolfsburg (2-1 and 3-0) in the UEFA Europa League knockout stages.
The Swiss, in turn, have defeated APOEL (3-0, 1-0) and Eintracht (3-0, 1-0).
In the semis on August 17, the Miners will play Inter Milan in Dusseldorf.
Shakhtar Donetsk in Europa League: Key stats
- Shakhtar are through to their third UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup semi-final (they beat Dynamo Kyiv in 2008/09 but lost to Sevilla in 2015/16).
- The Donetsk side have won all five of their quarter-final matches, against Braga, Marseille and now Basel.
- Shakhtar are 11 games unbeaten in all competitions (W9 D2).
- There have been at least three goals scored in ten of Shakhtar's 11 European matches this season.
- Junior Moraes has scored 25 goals in all competitions this term, including four in his last three outings. Shakhtar have not lost when he has found the net this season.
