Dinamo Kiev, coached by the experienced Mircea Lucescu, have already cleared a huge hurdle in this continental adventure by eliminating the fearsome Fenerbahçe Turks in the second qualifying round. The road to the Champions League group stage is still a long and winding one, but the club from the Ukrainian capital immediately put things on the right track by finding a narrow victory against Austrian side Sturm Graz in the first leg of the third round. In the Polish city of Lodz – Dinamo are unable to play their home matches in their own stadium due to the war that has been ravaging the country since last February – it ended 1-0 to Kedziora and his team-mates: the man-of-the-match award went once again to outside back Oleksandr Karavaev, who had already been decisive in extra time against Fenerbahçe.
Despite starting as underdogs, Sturm Graz nevertheless gave nothing away. The vice-champions of Austria showed that they have what it takes to play in the return leg and make this double-header even more balanced. Christian Ilzer’s line-up will once again take advantage of the fact that they are ahead in terms of preparation. While the Ukrainian championship, after the indefinite stop last February, will only start again at the end of August – the matches will be played behind closed doors and only in the western part of the country – in the Austrian Bundesliga, three days have already gone in the archives.
Two draws and a win for Sturm Graz, who after beating surprise champions Salzburg, were stopped (1-1) on the field of Ried, not going beyond a draw. There was no friendly at the weekend for Dinamo Kiev, with Lucescu preferring to concentrate on the all-important challenge at the Merkur Arena, where his men will have to defend the 1-0 win in the first leg.
Christian Ilzer ©️Ansafoto
The Prediction
Dynamo Kiev will not just be defending the lead they gained in the first leg, although as against Fenerbahçe the Ukrainians proved to be a very solid team. And just like a week ago, Sturm Graz will struggle to pierce their defence. The hosts should be able to avoid defeat this time, but Lucescu’s side remain favourites to qualify for the play-offs. It is likely to be another game of less than three goals overall.
The Sturm Graz-Dinamo Kiev matchday squad
STURM GRAZ (4-3-3): Siebenhand; Gazibegovic, Affengruber, Wuthrich, Dante; Hierlander, Stankovic, Prass; Horvat, Hojlund, Sarkaria.
DINAMO KIEV (4-1-4-1): Bushchan; Kedziora, Zabarnyi, Popov, Dubichak; Sydorchuk; Karavaev, Shepelev, Shaparenko, Buyalskyi; Besedin.
