Dynamo will play with its main competitor for access to the play-offs - Porto

Champions League

Today in the Champions League Dynamo will meet Porto away. On the eve of this meeting, the Kyivians, who played a draw in the first two matches, are one point behind the Portuguese. In the game against Porto, which is performing successfully at home, the Kiev team will not be helped by injured midfielder Ayila Yussuf. At the same time, Dynamo head coach Yuri Semin will be able to count on recovered forward Artem Milevsky.

For Dynamo, a two-game confrontation with Porto (the Kievans will play against the Portuguese club in the fourth round on their own field) could be decisive. After two rounds of the group tournament, Yuri Semin’s team scored two points and is in third place. In second position is Porto, which has a point more. It is possible that the Ukrainian or Portuguese team, having gained an advantage over the opponent after two matches, will end up in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. This will happen if there are no sensations in Arsenal's two matches against Fenerbahce. Having started the season brilliantly and leading Group G, the Londoners are considered clear favorites and can secure a place in the play-offs ahead of schedule after the games with the Istanbul team.

The Eurocup season has been going well for Dynamo so far. It can be called successful, especially if you remember the three previous seasons that Dynamo failed. This time the team started their group stage performances with a home draw in the match with Arsenal - 1:1. After Ismael Bangoor's penalty goal, the Londoners managed to come back only two minutes before the end of the match. In Istanbul, the Kiev team played an equal match against Fenerbahce, drawing it -0:0. Objectively speaking, Dynamo did not deserve to win any of these matches, but they were far from defeat. The strength of Arsenal could be judged by its home match of the second round against Porto, in which Arsene Wenger's team defeated the Portuguese - 4:0. The draw gained by Dynamo in the Istanbul game is also valuable - before Dynamo in European competition, no one could take away points from Fenerbahce at its stadium in eight matches in a row.

Today Dynamo will have a chance to break another tradition, according to which Porto is practically invulnerable with its Dragao. In 21 Champions League matches at this arena, the Portuguese club lost only once. Let us remind you that Fenerbahce's team won 3:1 in the first round at home.

Porto's chances of success are also increased by the fact that Dynamo is performing poorly on the road, having lost seven of the previous nine matches in the group stage of the Champions League. The last time the Kiev team scored three points at this stage was more than four years ago, when in September 2004 they were awarded a technical victory over Roma - 3:0. Portuguese clubs are also inconvenient rivals for Kiev residents - Dynamo met with them in European competition eight times, suffered six defeats and won twice.

Dynamo came into today's match against Porto in good shape. In the Ukrainian Championship, the Kiev team won seven victories in a row, the last four with large scores. At the same time, Dynamo did not concede a single goal - goalkeeper Stanislav Bogush's dry streak in the championship lasts seven matches. After the eleventh round, Dynamo became the sole leaders for the first time in the current championship. The leader in the championship is Portugal and Porto, which has 11 points after five rounds.

Dynamo failed to get rid of personnel problems. Midfielders Oleg Gusev, Carlos Correa and Ayila Yussuf continue to recover from injuries. If the first two players have not yet played this season, and it is difficult to judge how useful they can be to the team, then the loss of Yussuf has become very noticeable. The Nigerian is practically irreplaceable in the position of defensive midfielder in the current Dynamo. In the match against Fenerbahce, Tiberiu Ghioane played instead of him, acting in tandem with another defensive player - Ognjen Vukojevic. But it is difficult to say whether he will take the field in the game against Porto. It is likely that Badr El Kaddouri, who usually operates on the left flank, will play as a defensive midfielder. It was in the center of midfield that the Moroccan played the match of the eleventh round of the Ukrainian championship against Zorya, earning flattering reviews from Yuri Semin.

Forward Artem Milevsky, who had a great start to the season, has recovered from injury. In the match of the eleventh round of the Ukrainian championship against Zorya, he appeared in Dynamo's starting lineup and was replaced in the second half.

The referee for the Porto-Dynamo meeting will be Norwegian Terje Hauge. In 2005, he refereed the final game of the Ukrainian Cup, in which the Kiev team defeated Shakhtar Donetsk - 1:0.

Dmitry Kommersant-Martsenishin

Match of special importance