Gazzaev seeks change of fortune

FC Dynamo Kyiv coach Valeri Gazzaev is seeking a change of luck when FC Internazionale Milano visit the Ukrainian capital on Matchday 4.

• Dynamo's Russian coach has lost home ties in Europe to both Inter and their coach José Mourinho in the past but he will hope his charges can produce another impressive home performance to match the 3-1 victory against FC Rubin Kazan in September.

• In striker Andriy Shevchenko, Gazzaev has a player with experience of eliminating Inter from the UEFA Champions League while at AC Milan – and Shevchenko will not be short on motivation against opponents led by his old Chelsea FC manager Mourinho.

• The Ukrainian side will be further buoyed by their impressive 2-2 draw in Italy in the most recent round of matches having led twice and now lie second in the section, one point and two places above the Italian champions.

Previous meetings
• Inter and Dynamo met in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Christian Vieri's 90th-minute header earned Inter a 2-1 victory at San Siro on 30 September 2003 but it was Dynamo's turn to strike late in the return in Kyiv on 10 December, Diogo Rincón's 85th-minute goal cancelling out an Adani effort. The draw did not suit either team, however, for each had needed to win to reach the last 16.

• The full lineups for that encounter at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium were:
Dynamo: Shovkovskiy, Dmytrulin (Cernat 78), Sabljić, Gavrančić, Nesmachniy, Leko, Peev (Milevskiy 84), Ghioane (Gusev 74), Belkevich, Rincón, Shatskikh.
Inter: Toldo, Córdoba, Cannavaro, Adani, J Zanetti, Van der Meyde (Martins 49), Almeyda, Emre Belözoğlu (Recoba 88), Pasquale, Cruz (Lamouchi 82), Vieri.

Match background
• Dynamo's most recent visit from Italian opposition brought a 4-1 home defeat by AS Roma in the 2007/08 group stage.

• Their solitary win in eight previous attempts was a 2-0 success against Roma in the 2004/05 group stage courtesy of a Traianos Dellas own goal and Maxim Shatskikh strike.

• Besides their 1-1 draw with Dynamo in 2003, Inter have visited Ukraine on only one other occasion – for a 2-0 victory at FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Obafemi Martins and Adriano hit the second-half goals that set Inter on their way to a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

• Inter have won just one of their last six UEFA Champions League away matches.

Team ties
• Shevchenko twice played a key role in knocking Inter out of the UEFA Champions League. The Dynamo striker scored the 'away' goal when Milan defeated Inter in the 2002/03 semi-final en route to winning the trophy. The teams drew 0-0 then 1-1 at San Siro, with Inter eliminated as they were the designated home side for that second leg.

• He also struck in both legs of the Milan clubs' UEFA Champions League quarter-final contest in 2004/05. After helping Milan earn a 2-0 first-leg win, he put the Rossoneri ahead in the return although it was subsequently abandoned because of crowd trouble with Milan awarded a 3-0 victory.

• Shevchenko registered eight goals in Milan derbies in Serie A and another three against Inter in the Coppa Italia during his first seven-season spell at San Siro.

• His first strike against the Nerazzurri came on his derby debut on 23 October 1999, a 28th-minute opening goal as Milan won the 'away' fixture 2-1.

• Coaches Gazzaev and Mourinho crossed paths five years ago in the UEFA Champions League when the former's PFC CSKA Moskva side met Mourinho's Chelsea. The London club won the Matchday 3 meeting 2-0 on 20 October 2004, and then prevailed 1-0 in Moscow on Matchday 4, eventually finishing top of the group with CSKA third.

• Gazzaev was at the helm of the CSKA side beaten home and away by Inter in the 2007/08 group stage, going down 2-1 in Russia and 4-2 in Italy. He had previously led CSKA past Parma FC in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup semi-finals en route to winning the trophy. CSKA drew 0-0 away then won 3-0 in Moscow.

• Gazzaev also oversaw FC Dinamo Moskva's victory against Torino FC in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup second round.

• Dynamo players Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Andriy Nesmachniy, Oleg Gusev, Artem Milevskiy and Shevchenko were all in the Ukraine team beaten 3-0 by Italy in the 2006 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.