Thursday 10 March: 8:05pm Kick Off
Europa League
Live onITV4
History will be made in the Ukraine this week. For the first time Manchester City and Dynamo Kiev will compete in a European fixture. In fact it will be the first time City have played anyone from the Ukraine in European Competition.
The Round of 16 clash pits two clubs that have both tasted Euro success, yet neither have featured in a UEFA final- the only two clubs yet to achieve this feat. Dynamo won the Cup Winners Cup in 1985 and 1974- four years after City won their only European trophy. Despite this both teams should fear no-one in the competition and have the quality to go deep in the tournament and could yet add to their trophy cabinet.
What of Dynamo then? The Kiev club are the most successful in the Ukraine winning more domestic honours than any other team. Currently however, they are playing second fiddle to Shaktar Donetsk. Shaktar beat Roma in the Champions League earlier this week and are 10 points above Dynamo in the premiership. Yuri Semin is the third manager to lead the team in Europe this season after Valeri Gazzaev and caretaker Oleh Luzhny. The Valeriy Dobanovsky Stadium holds 16900 and is the smaller of the two grounds they play at. There was the option to play at the Olympic ground which holds over 80,000 but this fixture is deemed not worthy for the match to be moved.
The Ukranian league resumed on the weekend after a lengthy winter break. Dynamo made light work of Metalurh D 2-0 in a match that was little more than a training run. The only other match practice Dynamo had this year was their clinical dismantling of Besiktas 8-1 on aggregate in the Europa round of 32. This was an impressive display with goals being shared across the team and lethal set piece execution.
Manchester City have made a strong start to 2011 losing only twice in 15 matches. The Blues progressed to the Round of 16 by outclassing Aris 3-0 on aggregate in a patchy display. City are not playing great football but the quality of the squad have been good enough to grind out results. Performances have spluttered moments of quality without producing a complete 90 minute display. The playing stocks had been affected by injuries, however Nigel De Jong and Shaun Wright-Phillips are coming back and may well feature in this match to freshen the line-up.
This will be an intriguing encounter. Dynamo boast the legend that is Andrei Schevchenko, who heads a strong forward line. Artem Milevskiy is very skilful and holds the statistic of being the most fouled player in the competition (38 times: 15 more than any other player. Source, Uefa website.)
The midfield is also strong. The workmanlike local players have been supplemented with creative overseas talent. Roman Eremenko has the most assists in the competition with 6 while Argentinian Facundo Bertoglio adds guile and flair to the team.
Their weakness however is at the back. Although they are a stable group that has played together for many years, the backline is not blessed with pace. Expect the defence to play deep and maintain an effective well organised line. Goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovsky is not as technically brilliant as Joe Hart but has 17 years first team experience to draw upon.
The apparently leg weary City should be suited to Dynamo’s patient style of play. They are a team that probe, test and measure rather than assault the goal with wave after wave of attacks. They are strong at the set piece and show technical skill up front. However, the balance of the match can sway in the blues favour if they utilise their superior speed and utilise the space between the midfield and defence. David Silva is the key to this match. If he can create effectively City should be able to cash in. Despite this, Roberto Mancini has shown on his travels that he’s prepared to forego attacking flair in favour of defensive security. Make no mistake, the City defence will face a stern test, particularly from the set piece. And then there’s Shevchenko who no doubt will want to show an English audience that he’s still got it.
Manager Yuri Semin has brought a team to England 6 times without scoring a goal so he’ll be anxious to get something out of the first leg. If City can contain Dynamo they will be strong favourites to progress. History beckons….
Thanks go to dazby of ManCityFans.net for writing this preview.