On August 21 at 22.00 Kyiv time Dynamo and Salzburg will meet at the Lublin Arena within the first match of the Champions League qualifying round.

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Dynamo

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The last time Dynamo played in the Champions League group stage was three years ago. And now they have a good opportunity to get into the most prestigious European Cup tournament again. And not only the most prestigious, but also the most financially secure. Just getting into the main net of the Champions League promises its participant 19 million euros. So our vice-champion has something to fight for.

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In the first (for themselves) round of qualifying for the Champions League Oleksandr Shovkovskiy's wards didn't notice Serbian Partizan: they defeated them 9:2 on aggregate.

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The next opponent - Scottish Rangers - was a tough one: a 1-1 draw in Lublin and a 2-0 win in Glasgow.

And now they have to face an even more powerful team - European Cup regulars Red Bull Salzburg.

On the eve of the match against the Austrian vice-champion Dynamo played another game of the national championship. In Lviv, the Bilo-Syni defeated Karpaty - 3:1.

In the UPL, the Kyivians have so far played two matches, in which they scored maximum points.

On August 18, Shovkovskiy's team held a training session in Lviv, and immediately after lunch went to Lublin. There, after a short-term recovery, the players will continue direct preparation for the first match against Salzburg.

Shepelev, Dyachuk and Ponomarenko are in the team's infirmary.

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Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Dynamo head coach:

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"Keeping in mind our first match with Salzburg for entering the main stage of the Champions League, in the game against Karpaty we made a small rotation of the squad, gave rest to some players, especially since some of them have small problems. That is why we had an experimental lineup in Lviv."

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Salzburg

“Bulls” for the first time in the last ten seasons did not win the Austrian championship. In the last Austrian Bundesliga, the Red-Whites lost the championship crown to Sturm, finishing in second position.

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Therefore, Red Bull had to remember how it is to overcome obstacles on the way to the main round of the LC.

The first opponent of “Salzburg” on the qualification of the Champions League was the Dutch “Twente”. A hard-fought game ended with the final victory of the Austrians. At home they won 2:1, and away was recorded a spectacular draw 3:3.

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Leynders' wards started confidently on the domestic arena. First, they defeated Dornbirn 6-0 in the Austrian Cup. In the national championship - also in order: three wins out of three. And the first line in the table.

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“Salzburg” alternately defeated ‘Grazer’, ‘Blau Weiss’ and LASK.

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On Monday and Tuesday, the “bulls” trained at their base in a secret mode, according to the club press service. The Austrians will have only a light regulation training session in Lublin on the eve of the game in the presence of journalists.

The team's infirmary is crowded before the game with Dynamo. Seven players are in doubt: Kameri, Fernando (ex-Shakhtar player), Guindo, Morgalla, Hendry, Takumu and Konate.

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Pepijn Leinders, head coach of Salzburg:

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- Dynamo Kiev? I didn't think about the match with them for a second, all my attention was focused on LASK, because I fully respect this team and the kind of soccer they show. All of our players are hungry for success. We want to become a team that can beat anyone, including the best teams in the world. This goal has not been achieved yet, of course, but we are crazy Salzburg guys. All in all, we had a great week, and from Monday all our thoughts will be only about the matches with Dynamo in the Champions League qualification playoffs.

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History of confrontations

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Eurocup paths of the rivals crossed for the first time. But against other Ukrainian teams Red Bull already has a rather extensive history of “illness”. The team from Salzburg once faced both Shakhtar and Metalist. And on the sum of two meetings our teams were invariably stronger. Why don`t Dynamo players prolong this pleasant trend?

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Forecast

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Salzburg general director Stefan Reiter said that the most important thing for his team in the confrontation with Dynamo is that Red Bull will play the return match at home. Consequently, the Bulls will not force things in the away game. The nominal hosts will have to force things. Kyiv's opponent is very difficult and experienced. Despite the fact that the average age of the Austrian team is more than two years younger than the corresponding indicator of Dynamo. Let's assume that the game is unlikely to be bright. But both teams will create their chances. In our opinion, Dynamo will win with a minimum score.

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Tentative line-ups:

Dynamo: Buschan, Tymchik, Popov, Mikhavko, Dubinchak, Brazhko, Shaparenko, Kabaev, Yarmolenko, Buyalsky, Vanat

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Salzburg: Blazvych, Dedic, Piontkovski, Baidu, Terzic, Bidstrup, Gurna-Duat, Chergord, Nene, Kunfolo-Eo, Gluh.

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