Rubin threat real for Gazzaev

Valeri Gazzaev insists FC Dynamo Kyiv will not be taking a "capable and ambitious" FC Rubin Kazan side lightly ahead of the Russian titleholders' UEFA Champions League Group F debut at the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium, a game counterpart Kurban Berdyev expects will be "very close and interesting".

Valeri Gazzaev, Dynamo coach
I have great respect for Rubin, a capable and ambitious team. I have come up against them many times, and though they haven't changed much since I faced them [with PFC CSKA Moskva] last season, they are more experienced and confident. They say we have an advantage as this is Rubin's debut at this level, but I disagree – they have a lot of internationals and players with experience of European competition, and their Bukharov-Semak-Domínguez attacking trio is very impressive. But my team are also very well prepared. I'm confident of their ability and fitness. I'm not worried ahead of my first game at this level as Dynamo coach. We all know the prestige of the competition and will do our best. We have strengthened this summer and are especially pleased with Andriy Shevchenko; he's improving every day.

Kurban Berdyev, Rubin coach
We're glad to find ourselves in the company of clubs as great as Dynamo Kyiv, Inter and Barcelona. Most of our players and fans were happy with the draw. We don't have much experience but I expect a very close and interesting game tomorrow. We know our opponents very well. The level of football played by Ukraine's leading sides – Dynamo and Shakhtar Donetsk – is really high. We are in good shape now, ready to do battle with the hosts. For me, it's not a key point to defeat Valeri Gazzaev but just to win this game. We have lots of good, skilful players. Unfortunately we are without the suspended Macbeth Sibaya, but we have enough quality midfielders to replace him.

Key stats
• This match could well be Shevchenko's first UEFA Champions League outing for Dynamo since 1998/99 when he hit ten goals to fire the Kiev outfit to the semi-finals, where they lost narrowly to FC Bayern München.

• The Ukrainian team have a 100 per cent record against visitors from Russia in the UEFA Champions League, having earned group-stage wins against FC Spartak Moskva (3-2 in 1994/95) and FC Lokomotiv Moskva (2-0 in 2003/04), and beaten Spartak again in last season's third qualifying round. Olexandr Aliyev, Ismaël Bangoura and Artem Milevskiy (2) got the goals that earned Dynamo a 4-1 win against Spartak in August 2008, completing an 8-2 aggregate victory.

• Rubin did not compete in any of UEFA's club competitions before 2004. Outside of qualifying rounds and UEFA Intertoto Cup ties, they have played only one away game during the European season proper – a 1-0 defeat at SK Rapid Wien in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup first round.

• Gazzaev failed three times to get former employers PFC CSKA Moskva out of the group stage, although he did lead them to the UEFA Cup in 2004/05, the first European success for a Russian side.

• Dynamo
Out: Taras Mikhalik (knee), Olexandr Rybka (ankle), Badr El Kaddouri (ankle), Andriy Nesmachniy (knee)
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

• Rubin
Out: Petr Bystrov (heatstroke)
Suspended: Macbeth Sibaya
Misses next match if booked: none

Weekend results
12/09/09 FC Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 Dynamo
(Zozulya 17)

12/09/09 Rubin 5-1 FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast
(Bukharov 5 66, Domínguez 35pen, Ryazantsev 38 47; Topić 51)

Did you know?
Dynamo have not gone beyond the group stage since 1999/00, the season after Shevchenko's departure.