Dynamo Kyiv will play its first quarterfinal match of the Europa League against Italian Fiorentina at the Olimpiisky National Sports Complex on April 16. As reported by our club’s official website, none of Dynamo’s players will have to miss this match due to disqualification. Meanwhile, the Italians’ defender Jose Maria Basanta will not play in Kyiv, having received his third yellow card of this European season in the round of 16 match against Roma.
Another Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will face the Belgian Brugge on the same day in an away game. Their opponents will have to do without as many as four core players. Dnipro’s adversary lost midfielder Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo to an injury suffered in the Belgian championship match against Kortrijk on April 11, which Brugge lost 0-2. Defenders Thomas Meunier and Oscar Duarte as well as forward Felipe Gedoz will have to watch the game from their hospital beds too.
What are the Ukrainian clubs’ chances to progress to the Europa League semi-finals?
“Of course, Dynamo will find it harder to play against Fiorentina’s Italians compared to its victorious performance against the British Everton. Fiorentina has been using highly competent game designs lately. On the other hand, Dynamo has been displaying the same football competence and prudence over the past few months. I think this game will be a battle of tactics and competence, unlikely to result in many goals scored. The pair’s winner may well be determined by just one goal scored,” soccer expert and editor-in-chief of the 2+2 channel’s Profutbol TV show Volodymyr Zvieriev commented for The Day. “However, I look ahead to open, aggressive soccer in Dnipro’s game against Brugge. I think the two teams will score a lot of goals between them. Overall, Ukraine was mostly fortunate in this draw. By a stroke of luck, we did not get Wolfsburg as an adversary. Both our clubs have good chances to progress to the Europa League’s semi-finals.”
Let us recall that other pairs of the Europa League’s quarter-finals are as follows: Sevilla (Spain) will play against Zenit (Russia), while Wolfsburg (Germany) will face off with Napoli (Italy). The return matches will be held in a week on April 23, while the Europa League’s final will be played at the National Stadium in Warsaw (Poland) on May 27, 2015.
