Shakhtar have not played a competitive fixture in three months, but will hope their excellent European pedigree can see them through over two legs here.
Igor Jovicevic’s side finished with just four points from their final three games before the season halted for the winter break, and the January transfer window has undoubtedly left them weaker.
Losing Mykhaylo Mudryk to Chelsea will be a huge loss for the side, despite the hefty transfer fee they received, as no player contributed to more goals in the Ukrainian top flight than him this season (14). His form in Europe was excellent too as he was involved in five of Shakhtar’s eight group stage goals in the Champions League earlier in the season.
They have not bought a replacement for Mudryk so their attacking options look light outside of Lassina Traore and Oleksandr Zubkov.
Promising duo Heorhii Sudakov and Dmytro Kryskiv have become regulars this season, but the pair have big shoes to fill in attacking midfield.
Rennes were fortunate enough to be drawn with a Dynamo Kiev side in disarray, for understandable reasons, and Cypriot minnows AEK Larnaca in their Europa League group.
Despite going unbeaten during the group stage, it was a messy campaign for Rennes, and it will be seen in hindsight as a major disappointment that they have to play in this preliminary round at all.
Rennes, meanwhile, are on a run of back-to-back defeats, losing five of their last seven games across competitions. They have lost their last four away outings and could see defeat.
They failed to beat Fenerbahce in either tie despite being 2-0 up at home and 3-0 up in Istanbul, before drawing at home to AEK Larnaca on the final matchday when a win would have won the group.
This will be just the second meeting between the sides, as a penalty from former Brazilian international Elano separated the two in a UEFA Cup group stage clash in 2005.
