Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv Champions League Preview

Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv Champions League Preview

Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv will be right in the middle of the drama that currently surrounds the Ukrainian giants, which have found themselves in the first real crisis of the Serhiy Rebrov era. Rebrov, who took over the club in 2014, has guided Dynamo Kyiv to two national championships (2015, and 2016), and also two Ukrainian Cups (2014, and 2015).

This season, however, results have been somewhat inconsistent in the Ukrainian Premier League, and a disaster in the UEFA Champions League. Before the group stage opened, Dynamo Kyiv owner Ihor Surkis stated that the “task would be for Dynamo to get out of the group.” Hence, while Futbolgrad predicted that the Ukrainian giants would finish third in Group B, expectations in Kyiv where much higher.

After matchday 4, however, those expectations have very much hit rock bottom, as Dynamo are last in the group with only one point, and three points behind third placed Benfica. Beşiktaş, who occupy the all-important second spot, are already four points ahead of Dynamo.

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Dynamo was also defeated by 0-2 at home by Benfica on matchday 3, which means that the Portuguese are now not only three points ahead of Dynamo, but also firmly control the head to head draw, which is the first tiebreaker in the group stage if teams finish even on points.

Therefore, for Dynamo to reach the bare minimum, which at this point would be to qualify for the round of 32 of the Europa League, they not only need to defeat Benfica away on Tuesday November 1, but they need to do so in a convincing fashion, with a result that overturns their 2-0 home defeat.

This is a tall ask for a club that struggled to get results against the likes of Oleksandriya, where they drew 1-1 on October 23. The poor results have meant that Rebrov in particular has been called out for criticism.

Rebrov lost his experienced assistant coach Raul Riancho to the Ukrainian national team in the offseason, and some observers of the game in Ukraine believe that it was Riancho, who was the true tactical genius behind Dynamo’s success during the last two seasons.

For Rebrov, this means that he has now three games in the Champions League left in which to prove his doubters wrong. Starting with the game on November 1 at the Estadio da Luz, the countdown over Rebrov’s future at the club has begun…

Futbolgrad’s Prediction: Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv 1-1

Possible Line-ups

Benfica:

Formation: 4-4-2

Ederson – Grimaldo, Lindelöf, Luisão, Semedo – Carrillo, Fejsa, Pizzi, Toto Salvio – Guedes, Mitroglou

Manager: Rui Vitória

Dynamo Kyiv:

Formation: 4-3-3

Shovkovskyi – Makarenko, Vida, Khacheridi, Morozyuk – Garmash, Rybalka, Sydorchuk – Gusev, Moraes, Yarmolenko

Manager: Serhiy Rebrov

By Manuel Veth –

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