On Wednesday in Gelsenkirchen, Shakhtar Donetsk and Atalanta BC will look to win their first league phase match after both teams had to settle for goalless draws in their Champions League openers.
Following their holding by Bologna, Shakhtar will take on another Italian team, while La Dea narrowly defeated Arsenal on the first matchday.
Shakhtar Donetsk, playing in the Champions League proper for the eighth time in a row, began their most recent campaign with a goalless draw in Bologna. As a result, they have only triumphed in eight of their previous 37 games in the premier club competition in Europe.
They have been eliminated in the group stage for six consecutive seasons after losing on the penultimate matchday of the previous season and just missed the knockout stages. This year, they have said that their goal is to at least qualify for the playoffs.
Although his club hasn't managed back-to-back victories this season, head coach Marino Pusic was named in October after leading Shakhtar to their 15th Ukrainian Premier League title and then winning the cup to clinch a ninth domestic double.
The Pitmen dropped two points in a 1-1 draw against Veres Rivne on Friday ahead of their journey to Germany this week, where they will host their "home" matches owing to the continuing war in their homeland.
Prior to their trip to Stadio Dall'Ara, they had defeated Karpaty Lviv 5-2 and Obolon Kyiv 4-0, scoring nine goals in two league victories. Despite this, they are just six points behind leaders Dynamo Kyiv in fourth place in the standings.
This week, Shakhtar will be without precedent as they have only triumphed in eight of their previous 27 European home games (perhaps in part because of their protracted absence from Donetsk). They have also lost their last nine games against Italian opponents.
Their most recent triumph, in fact, came in the 2019 Champions League group stage against Atalanta, 2-1, spoiling La Dea's inaugural home match in the competition.
That time, Gian Piero Gasperini's team would come out on top as they defeated Shakhtar 3-0 in Ukraine on the last matchday to advance to the round of sixteen at their cost.
'Gasp' is still in command of the Bergamo team, of course. He guided them to Europa League success the previous season, and they are participating in the Champions League for the fourth time in as many seasons as they have since 2019.
The Nerazzurri's first game of the season ended in a 0-0 tie at home against Arsenal after Mateo Retegui's second-half penalty was saved and David Raya brilliantly denied his header.
While the outcome alone was fairly impressive, Atalanta has now only triumphed once in their last nine top-tier European games; this season, they have already suffered home losses to Torino, Inter Milan, and Como.
Chronically unreliable, they dropped to 11th place in the Serie A rankings this past weekend after needing a 90th-minute equalizer from substitute Lazar Samardzic to salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bologna.
Furthermore, since opening the season with a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, Gasperini's revamped team, which is strengthened by several summer additions, has given up 12 goals in their first six league games.
