PSV opens their Champions League campaign against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. The last time these two met it was a true spectacle with PSV scoring three goals after the 88th minute to completely turn it around and win the game with 3-2. The Dutch champions go into this game as favorites, with Peter Bosz in his fourth season as manager of the club. The former Leverkusen, Dortmund, and Lyon manager has turned PSV into one of the most dominant Dutch sides this century. Despite an awful start to the season losing 0-4 to AZ in the Dutch Super Cup, and a 2-2 draw against Fortuna in the league opener the club from Eindhoven has looked as strong as previous seasons since. They won their last three games with convincing scorelines against FC Groningen (5-1), FC Utrecht (1-6), and Ajax last weekend (1-3). The only thing to look out for is the shaky defense, having failed to register a clean sheet in official games since April 11 when they faced Sparta Rotterdam away from home (0-2). Especially after missing out on reaching the knockout stages last season they will be fired up this time around. Shakhtar Donetsk will want to try to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2017/18, where they were eliminated by Roma on away goals in the round of 16. This season they are allowed to host their home games at Stamford Bridge, which surprisingly would have been empty on European nights this year. Though they start their campaign with an away day in the Netherlands. The club from Ukraine currently sits 2nd in the league table after 5 games (4W, 1L). PSV will not be able to use their current captain Mauro Júnior, who still has to serve his suspension, with their other captain Jerdy Schouten still recovering from a ligament injury as well. Shakhtar Donetsk will be missing Pedrinho, who got injured in early August and will be out until mid October.