Brugge open Champions League campaign against Dynamo Kyiv

Futbolgrad

·5 August 2019

Brugge open Champions League campaign against Dynamo Kyiv

Mark Temnycky –

Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv – Tuesday, August 6, 19:30 BST/20:30 CEST – Jan Breydelstadion, Brugge, Belgium

Having performed well in their respective domestic leagues last season, Belgium’s Club Brugge and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv will compete against one another to earn a place in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League.

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Club Brugge returned to Jupiler Pro League contention in mid-July as they took on Waasland-Beveren and Sint-Truiden in their first two matches of the 2019/20 season. Brugge had convincing displays in both fixtures and will look to transfer this domestic success to the international stage.

Brugge qualified for Champions League contention last season, though they were eliminated in the group stage by German club Borussia Dortmund and Spanish club Atlético de Madrid. Their performances against Monaco, however, saw the Belgians move on to the UEFA Europa League. Unfortunately, after taking a 2-1 lead at home against Austrian side Red Bull in the Round of 32, they were hammered in the second leg 4-0 and thus eliminated from the competition.

With this in mind, the Belgians will look for a new opportunity in this season’s Champions League. They will have to overcome their poor record against Ukrainian opposition, however, if they are to advance to the next Champions League qualification round.

Dynamo Kyiv should also be well prepared for this match. Having completed their preseason in mid-July, the Ukrainians have played three competitive fixtures leading up to this Champions League qualifier.

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Dynamo started with a bang as they defeated rivals Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2019/20 Ukrainian Super Cup. Moreover, Dynamo had convincing performances in their opening two matches of the 2019/20 Ukrainian Premier Liha season against Karpaty Lviv and Lviv FC. With these displays, Dynamo will know they have returned to full match fitness and thus should be capable of earning a result in Belgium.

The Ukrainians were unsuccessful in finding a place in last season’s Champions League, and although they found their way to the Europa League’s Round of 16, they were embarrassed by Chelsea during this outing. With these bad omens behind them, Dynamo will look to make amends for these poor performances.

Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv – Players to Watch:

Hans Vanaken #20 – Club Brugge

Having joined Brugge in 2015, the attacking midfielder made nearly 200 appearances and scored more than 50 goals across all competitions. He has become a utility player for the Belgian side, and it is no wonder he is the club’s vice-captain. Should Brugge hope to advance to the next round of the Champions League qualifiers, they will need to rely on Hans Vanaken in this tie.

Vitaliy Mykolenko #16 – Dynamo Kyiv

The Ukrainian fullback established himself as a regular starter for the Ukrainian men’s national team. The fullback helped his side earn three clean sheets from four Euro 2020 qualification matches, and the Zbirna have taken a commanding lead in their qualification group. Having played the likes of Portugal and Serbia, Vitaliy Mykolenko is familiar with playing against some of Europe’s top talents. He will hope to transfer his national team success to his club.

Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv – Match Statistics

This will be the first meeting between these two clubs.
Club Brugge have a poor record against Ukrainian clubs. In their previous nine meetings against Ukrainian opposition the Blue-Blacksdrew five and lost four.
Dynamo Kyiv also have a poor result against Belgian opponents. In their four encounters against Belgium clubs the Blue-Whiteswon once and lost the other three.

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv – 2-2

Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv – Lineups

Club Brugge

Formation: 3-4-3

Mignolet – Mata, Mechele, Mitrović – Vormer, Amrabat, Rits, Diatta – Vormer, Openda, Vanaken

Manager: Philippe Clement

Dynamo Kyiv

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Boyko – Kędziora, Burda, Kádár, Mykolenko –Shepelyev, Buyalskyi– Tsyhankov, Harmash, Verbič – Besyedin

Manager: Alyaksandr Khatskevich

Mark Temnycky is an accredited AIPS journalist who reports on the Ukrainian men’s national team and Ukrainian clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. Outside of the Futbolgrad Network, he covers Manchester City for SB Nation’s Bitter and Blue. Follow him @MTemnycky