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Having appointed Mircea Lucescu to the post of head coach, Igor Surkis immediately stated that he does not expect an instant result, the main thing for him is a systematic approach that will allow to build a strong team. At the same time, the president of the “Dynamo” admitted that the Romanian specialist’s contract provides for a bonus system for reaching the group stage of the Champions League. Mircea Lucescu himself, after the match against Desna, stressed that “the team is not building so fast, especially when it comes to attack.” Although already in a press conference before the game with AZ, he objected that the training process should take a long time.
Obviously, based on the names of his opponents in the qualifying phase (current and potential in the playoff round), Igor Surkis hopes that the Dynamo can finally get into the group stage, which has not happened to him in four years. It is not so much about a completely different level of emotions compared to the Europa League, but about financial gains. Participation in the Champions League alone provides significantly higher earnings than successes in the second highest tournament. However, did the president himself do enough for his team to complete the task? Taking into account the personnel problems that Lucescu faced, there are doubts. Yes, Mister’s experience is a significant advantage for the whites and blues, but there is a risk that their crisis is much deeper than it appears.
This match can hardly be called defining for Dynamo. However, the victory will strengthen Igor Surkis in his opinion on the right choice and will motivate the team towards new achievements. But the failure will also demolish the recovery that was observed after winning the Super Cup and can sow doubt not only among the players who, according to them, believed in Lucescu’s methods, but also in the coach himself.
FIGURES AND FACTS
- “Dynamo” and AZ have already met, but not in the Champions League, but in the Europa League. Exactly ten years ago, the Kievists had two victories with a score of 1: 2 and 2: 0.
- Mircea Lucescu will face Alkmaar for the second time as head coach of the Ukrainian club – 15 years ago, in 2005 – his Shakhtar lost to AZ in the eighth final of the UEFA Cup (1: 2, 1: 3) .
- In addition to Dynamo and Shakhtar, AZ also faced Dnipro (2005/06 season, 1: 2 win), Metalist (2010/11 Europa League, two 1: 1 draws) and Mariupol in the international arena (LE 2019/2020, 0: 0, 4: 0).
- The Dynamo last played in the Champions League group stage in the 2016/2017 season. Since then, the Kiev team have been eliminated twice after the third qualifying round, once in the playoff round. In the 2018/19 season, the Kivians passed to Slavia, but were eliminated from Ajax, which in that competition will reach the semifinals. Furthermore, the inhabitants of Kiev were inferior to Young Boys and Brugge.
- The last time the Blue and Whites made it through the Champions League tie was in 2012, when Semin’s team beat Feyenoord and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
- For AZ, this is only the third participation in the Champions League / Cup. The debut took place in the 1981/82 season, in the round of 16 the Alkmaarians were eliminated from Liverpool. In the 2009/10 season, AZ finished fourth in the group with Arsenal, Olympiacos and Standard.
- The last championship in the Netherlands was not finished due to the pandemic. At the time of stopping after round 25, AZ had the same number of points with Ajax, 56. However, Slota’s team was inferior to the Amsterdam players in additional indicators.
- After the resumption of football, AZ played only one official match: the match of the second qualifying round of the Champions League against the Czech “Victoria”. AZ was saved in the last seconds of regular time and then won in overtime – 3: 1. Last weekend a new championship started in the Netherlands, but the Alkmaar club asked to postpone the match to prepare for the Champions League match. .
- In the new season, Dynamo defeated Shakhtar in the Super Cup game, started with a league win over Olimpik and parted ways with Desna.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the change of season, the team that will advance to the next round will be determined based on a single match. In the event of a tie in regulation time, extra time will be played, if the winner is not determined, a penalty shoot-out will take place.
ORIENTATION FORMULATIONS
“Dynamo” faced major personnel problems on defense. Burda and Popov fought for a long time, Shabanov had health problems and Tymchik was injured in the last match. So Lucescu even had to exhibit at the Mikolenko center. However, this time Vitaly seems to be playing on the left. Zabarny will be Kendzer’s partner in the center, Karavaev is on the right. It is also possible that a pair of centrals are Zabarny – Sirota, and the Pole returns to the flank.
In midfield, Lucescu still trusts Sidorchuk, Shaparenko and Buyalsky. Viktor Tsygankov missed training yesterday: Tsitaishvili or Gerson Rodríguez could replace him on the right. On the left we will see De Pena, according to Lucescu, Verbic is not ready yet. At the forefront and waiting for Vladislav Supryaga, this will be the second match in the Champions League standings for the young forward. The first, two years ago against Ajax, failed.
Buschan – Karavaev, Kendzera, Zabarny, Mykolenko – Sidorchuk – Gerson, Buyalsky, Shaparenko, de Pena – Supryaga
In AZ, the involvement of two main wingers and the team’s top stars, Osama Idrissi and Kelvin Stengs, is in doubt. However, Gudmundsson, who replaced Stengs in the game against Victoria, scored a double in that game. The most experienced player on this team is Ron Vlaar, who has played in the Champions League with Feyenoord and several seasons in the Premier League. In the game against “Victoria” alongside him was 22-year-old captain Ton Koopmeiners, whose main position is the supporting midfielder. In the center of the field we will see the Dutch Clasie and the Norwegian Midstjo. Obviously, special attention will have to be paid to left-back Aries Weindahl, who had eight assists last season. The main addresses of his centers and lumbago are Myron Boadu, 19, who scored in every second game last season (20 goals in 39 games).
Bizot – Svensson, Vlaar, Koopmejners, Vejndal – Klasi, Midstjo – Stengs, De Vit, Idrissi – Boadu
MATCH FORECAST DYNAMO – I 1: 1 (pen.)
The problems of the people of Kiev in defense are alarming. On the other hand, the game against Shakhtar showed that Lucescu can build an effective low block and rely on the speed of Gerson, Pena (or Tsitaishvili) and Supryaga. Much will depend on who will be the first to open an account. There is a feeling that it will be “Dynamo”, but it will not be easy for the hosts to maintain the advantage. As a result, the game will be delayed for an additional 30 minutes.
