In the last Champions League Dinamo Kiev and Benfica were drawn in the same group. In Ukraine, the match ended in a scoreless draw, while in the return leg the Lusitanians won 2-0 in a match that practically only counted for them. That result was decisive in winning the head-to-head with Barcelona and securing a pass to the knockout phase at the expense of the higher-ranked Catalan club. Nothing to do instead for Mircea Lucescu’s men, who finished in last place with just one point out of eighteen available. Dinamo Kiev now have the chance to make up for that defeat by trying to oust Benfica from the group stage.
The Ukrainians, despite playing almost exclusively friendlies from February onwards due to the inability to continue in their league – they will resume play at the end of August, but behind closed doors and only in the western part of the country, invaded by Russia – have so far made it through two qualifying rounds unscathed. First, they beat Fenerbahçe of Turkey in extra time in a tight double-header; then they won both the first leg and the return leg against Sturm Graz of Austria, but always scoring the decisive goal in extra time. Unable to play in their own stadium because of the war, they will play the first leg at the neutral ground in Lodz, Poland.
Benfica also seem to be off to a good start. Having racked up victory after victory in the pre-season, Roger Schmidt’s side beat the Danes of Midtjylland by a total of seven goals (4-1 in the first leg and 3-1 in the return) to earn the right to play in the play-offs. The Portuguese were also devastating in the league: two wins out of two in the first two days of the Primeira Liga against Arouca and Casa Pia.
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The Prediction
So far, Benfica have shown that they do not suffer too much from the absence of their former scorer Nunez, who was sold to Liverpool in the summer. Schmidt’s team has surprised with its great offensive prolificacy: the attacking pair formed by Gonçalo Ramos and Rafa Silva is enchanting so far. Dinamo Kiev is a very organised team with some good individuals, but it is unlikely that they will be able to keep their goals unbroken against a team like the Lusitanian team, which has a lot of quality from the midfield upwards. That is why we imagine a match with both teams scoring, with Benfica likely to avoid defeat.
Dynamo Kiev-Benfica’s likely line-up
DINAMO KIEV (4-3-3): Bushchan; Kedziora, Zabarnyi, Syrota, Dubinchak; Shaparenko, Andriyevskiy, Shepeliev; Buyalskyi, Tsygankov, Besedin.
BENFICA (4-4-2): Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Felipe Morato, Grimaldo; Chiquinho, Fernandez, Luis, Goncalves; Ramos, Silva.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2