Napoli draw not enough for Dynamo
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
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Napoli are still well placed to progress from Group B despite a frustrating evening at home to Dynamo Kyiv, who are eliminated by the goalless draw in southern Italy.
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Napoli remain in the top two in UEFA Champions League Group B despite a frustrating goalless draw at home to Dynamo Kyiv, whose own failure to win means they will finish fourth.
The visitors resisted Napoli's pressure and ultimately emerged with a clean sheet, goalkeeper Artur Rudko coming to the rescue with sliding tackles outside his area several times in the first half. Dynamo knew anything less than a victory would end their faint hopes of progess so they tried to attack with less caution after the break, but they fell short of carving out clear opportunities.
Indeed it was the hosts who spent the closing exchanges on the front foot, substitute Manolo Gabbiadini a lively presence after his introduction, but Dynamo held on brilliantly and secured a point they will greet with both pride and disappointment.
Key player: Marek Hamšík (Napoli)
The Napoli captain was really determined to run the show in midfield and had a couple of dangerous attempts, one of them saved by a great intervention from Rudko. The Slovak never stopped searching for the breakthrough, yet even he was unable to inspire the home team to three points.
Gabbiadini's central role
It took just a couple of Gabbiadini shots, following his 66th-minute introduction off the bench, to show how Napoli desperately need him to play as a main striker in the absence of the injured Arkadiusz Milik. The forward went close twice with his lethal left foot. He may prefer to operate wide in attack but coach Maurizio Sarri really requires a player who can make the most of the many chances the Partenopei create.
Dynamo back to their roots
During Valeriy Lobanovskiy's long reign, Dynamo were a conveyor belt of talent, the club's philosophy bringing some great achievements including three European trophies. This century the outlook changed with a squad staffed with plenty of foreign players, but now it seems Dynamo have returned to their roots. The starting XI against Napoli featured ten home-grown players, nine of them academy products. Bearing in mind Dynamo also have a fantastic Under-19 side, who have won their UEFA Youth League group with a game to spare, this 'new' direction might prove profitable for the Ukrainian champions.
Reporters' views
Paolo Menicucci, Napoli (@UEFAcomPaoloM)
Napoli could have made history by qualifying after only three matchdays. Now they will have to avoid defeat in their last game at Benfica in order to avoid elimination. At least they registered a second clean sheet in their last ten outings in all competitions; no coincidence this came after Raúl Albiol's return to the back line.
Bogdan Buga, Dynamo (@UEFAcomBogdanB)
Dynamo had two aims tonight: to keep alive their round of 16 hopes and to showcase Serhiy Rebrov's new project centred on local youngsters. The Bilo-Syni achieved the latter, even though they again failed to get their first victory of this group campaign. Rebrov had said he wanted his team to "finish the year with pride". They can still do so at home to Beşiktaş on matchday six.
