FCBARCELONA.CAT

27.08.2009 20:51

Dynamo Kiev, a familiar foe

Dynamo Kiev, defending Ukrainian champions, are one of the clubs Barça will be meeting in the group stages of the Champions League. The two clubs have met several times in recent campaigns.

Barça and Dynamo met each other on numerous occasions in the 1990s. The first reencounter between the clubs will be at the Camp Nou on September 29, and then they meet again on the last day of the round, in the Ukrainian capital on December 9.

Champions and leaders

Dynamo Kiev won the Ukrainian title last season, thus ensuring direct passage to the group stages of the Champions League. And although that championship has become considerably more competitive in recent seasons, last time round Dynamo won in style, by a massive margin of fifteen points ahead of UEFA Cup champions Shakhtar Donetsk, who Barça meet in the European Super Cup. After just five days of this year’s league, it is Dynamo who are already in the driving seat.

Guilherme, the star

Young Brazilian striker Guilherme is the main man at Dynamo. After impressing with his goals for Cruzeiro, he moved to Europe last year. Other men to look out for include midfielders Roman Eremenko of Finland and Vukojevic of Croatia. Dynamo also form the backbone of the strong Ukrainian national squad, with players of the calibre of goalkeeper Txovkovskyy, midfielder Aliyev and forward Milevskyy.

First year under Gazzaev

Russian Valery Gazzaev is the current manager, a man who managed his country’s national side in 2002 and 2003. But it was at CSKA Moscow that Gazzaev particularly made his name, winning three Russian championships and the 2005 UEFA Cup.

Memories of the nineties

There were some memorable meetings between Barça and Dynamo Kiev in the 1990s, when the sides met no fewer than eight times in the Champions League and Cup Winners Cup. Barça edge it overall with four wins, one draw and three defeats.

Two games stand out above the others, one for the right and one for the wrong reasons, at least as far as Barça are concerned. The first was the return leg in the round of sixteen of the 1992/93 European Cup. The Dream Team had lost the first leg 3-1 in Kiev, but bounced back with an amazing 4-1 win at the Camp Nou. But in 1997/98, when Barça went out in the group stages, they were stunned by a 4-0 defeat at home to the Ukrainians, a night that made an overnight star of Andrei Shevchenko.