After a year's break the club starts again in the UEFA Cup

football

Today in Dnepropetrovsk in the first match of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, Dnepr will meet with Polish Belchatow. Maxim Startsev and Jaba Kankava will not play for the hosts due to injuries. But, despite the losses, Dnepr is the favorite of the match.

Dnepr did not participate in European competitions last season, and today's match against Polish Belchatow will mark the club's return to the European arena. Bookmakers are confident that the Dnepropetrovsk team will not have any problems in the game against the Polish vice-champion. The Ukrainian team approached the meeting in a good mood. Dnepr started the season with a record winning streak in the national championship. Dnipropetrovsk won five matches in a row and took the lead in the championship. The team proved that it can do without goalkeeper Maxim Startsev and defensive midfielder Jaba Kankava, who missed the match of the last round of the championship with Neftyanik-Ukrnafta. As Kommersant was told by the Dnepr press service, these players have not yet recovered from their injuries and will not take part in the game against Belchatow. There are no other personnel problems in Oleg Protasov’s team. Today, for the first time this season, forward Sergei Kornilenko, who did not play in the opening matches of the Ukrainian championship due to disqualification, will be able to take the field.

Injured midfielder Lukasz Gargula will probably not play for Belchatow against Dnepr. His absence will seriously weaken the Polish club, because this player is the only Belchatow player who is regularly involved in the Polish national team. Last season, when Belchatow was fighting for the championship, Gargula was one of the team's key players. Another leader of Belchatow is Honduran national team striker Carlo Costley. True, this season the Honduran has not yet reached optimal shape, and therefore does not always make it into the starting lineup.

In the first round of UEFA Cup qualifying, Belchatow met with the Georgian Ameri. At home, the Poles won 2:0 thanks to a brace from Dariusz Pietrasiak, but lost away with the same score. The winner was determined in a penalty shootout, the hero of which was 39-year-old Polish goalkeeper Piotr Lech. Belchatow played the last match before the meeting with Dnepr in the national championship away against Widzew. The game ended in a goalless draw, and its main event was the debut of three newcomers to Belchatow - Peruvian national team defender Joel Segarra, his compatriot Alexander Sanchez and midfielder Janusz Dziedzic.

Belchatow participates in European competitions for the first time in its history. In the domestic arena, the best achievements of the rival Dnepr were two appearances in the finals of the Polish Cup in 1996 and 1999. It should be noted that two years ago Belchatow played in the first league of the Polish championship, after which it returned to the elite and immediately took tenth place. Belchatow nearly won gold last season. He lost the championship, losing in the final round of the national championship.

Previously, Dnepr only once had to meet a Polish club in European competition. In the 1986/87 season, Dnipropetrovsk played with Warsaw Legia in the 1/32 finals of the UEFA Cup. It is interesting that the current head coach of Dnepr, Oleg Protasov, took part in these matches. The Dnipropetrovsk team ended in a draw in the first away game - 1:1. And in the second, Protasov missed the penalty, and Dnepr lost 0:1, dropping out of the tournament.

The match between Dnepr and Belchatow will be officiated by Turkish referee Küneyt Çakır.

SERGEY Kommersant-TSUKILO

"Dnepr" returns to the European channel