Dynamo Kyiv vs Benfica facts

Two teams who met in last season's UEFA Champions League face off again in the 2022/23 play-offs as Dynamo Kyiv welcome Benfica to the Polish city of Łódź for a contest between two group stage regulars.

The Portuguese side took four points off Dynamo in the 2021/22 group stage, which proved crucial in helping them into the knockout rounds, with the Ukrainian side bowing out of European competition having finished bottom of the section.

While Dynamo have come through two qualifying ties in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League to set up this reunion – winning three of their four fixtures – Benfica entered the competition in the third qualifying round, where they recorded an emphatic victory.

Previous meetings
Benfica drew 0-0 at Dynamo on Matchday 1 of last season's UEFA Champions League, a 2-0 success in Lisbon on Matchday 6 – achieved thanks to early goals from former Dynamo forward Roman Yaremchuk (16) and Gilberto (22) – sealing their place in the round of 16 as Group E runners-up. Dynamo's sole point in 2021/22 came courtesy of that opening draw with Benfica.

The teams were also paired in the 2016/17 group stage, Benfica winning 2-0 in Kyiv on Matchday 3 thanks to goals from Eduardo Salvio (9pen) and Franco Cervi (55) before Salvio (45+2) scored the only goal in Lisbon, again from the spot. Those six points helped the Eagles finish second to Napoli in Group B on eight points, with Dynamo eliminated in fourth place on five.

The sides also met in the 1991/92 European Cup group stage when Dynamo won 1-0 at home, Oleh Salenko getting the only goal for Anatoliy Puzach's team. Sven-Göran Eriksson's Benfica emphatically turned the tables in the return, César Brito and ex-Dynamo striker Sergei Yuran both scoring twice in a 5-0 win.

Form guide

Dynamo Kyiv
Dynamo are aiming to make their 19th appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage – a Ukrainian record, with Shakhtar Donetsk set to participate for the 17th time in 2022/23. Dynamo are also looking to feature in the group stage for the third season in succession having missed three in a row from 2017/18 to 2019/20.

In 2021/22, after that opening draw with Benfica, Dynamo lost their five subsequent games to finish fourth in Group E behind Bayern München, Benfica and Barcelona.

The Kyiv club have needed extra time to win both their ties so far in this season's UEFA Champions League, against Fenerbahçe in the second qualifying round (0-0 h, 2-1 a) and Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round (1-0 h, 2-1 a).

This is Dynamo's fourth UEFA Champions League play-off, the 2020/21 victory against Gent (2-1 a, 3-0 h) making their record at this stage of the competition W2 L2.

Dynamo have not scored more than one goal in any of their last ten European home games (W2 D3 L5).

Dynamo have played 24 games against Portuguese sides with the record W7 D6 L11 (W4 D4 L4 at home). Their last contests before 2021/22 came in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League play-offs, a 3-1 aggregate win against Marítimo (0-0 a, 3-1 h).

Benfica
Benfica are aiming to reach the group stage for the 17th time and the 12th in 13 seasons – they missed out only in 2020/21, when they were beaten by PAOK in the third qualifying round.

In 2021/22 the Eagles came through two qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, where they collected eight points to finish second in Group E behind Bayern, eliminating Barcelona in the process. They then ousted Ajax in the round of 16 (2-2 h, 1-0 a) before losing to Liverpool in the quarter-finals (1-3 h, 3-3 a).

The Lisbon club defeated PSV Eindhoven in last season's play-offs (2-1 h, 0-0 a) to make it three wins from three at this stage of the UEFA Champions League; they also beat Twente in 2011/12 (2-2 a, 3-1 h) and PAOK in 2018/19 (1-1 h, 4-1 a). They are therefore yet to lose a play-off game.

Benfica – who were third in the Portuguese Liga in 2021/22, 17 points behind champions Porto and 11 adrift of runners-up Sporting CP – have reached seven European Cup finals, winning the trophy in 1961 and 1962 but losing on their five subsequent appearances, most recently against AC Milan in 1990.

The Portuguese giants kicked off this season under new coach Roger Schmidt in the third qualifying round, recording two emphatic wins against Midtjylland (4-1 h, 3-1) with Gonçalo Ramos scoring a first-leg hat-trick.

Before last season the most recent of Benfica's 15 matches against Ukrainian clubs came in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League round of 32, when they lost to Shakhtar (1-2 a, 3-3 h). The first-leg loss in Kharkiv made their away record W3 D1 L3.

Benfica have lost only one of their last eight European away games (W3 D4), going down 5-2 at Bayern last season.

Links and trivia
Benfica's Yaremchuk came through the Dynamo academy, which he joined in 2007. He made nine league appearances for his home-town club in 2016/17 but failed to score.

Yaremchuk's Dynamo team-mates included Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Viktor Tsygankov, Volodymyr Shepeliev, Denys Garmash, Mykyta Burda, Artem Besedin, Georgiy Bushchan and Oleksandr Tymchyk.

Yaremchuk also played for Ukrainian side Olexandriya in 2016/17, scoring six goals in 17 appearances in all competitions.

Rodrigo Pinho was a second-half substitute in Marítimo's 0-0 draw at home to Dynamo in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League play-off first leg; Sydorchuk, Garmash, Buyalskiy, Shepeliev and substitute Tsygankov all played for the Ukrainian club.

Nicolás Otamendi was in the Porto side that took four points off Dynamo in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage (3-2 h, 0-0 a) and also started both legs as Manchester City beat the Ukrainian club in the 2015/16 round of 16 (3-1 a, 0-0 h).

A Jan Vertonghen goal earned Ajax a 1-1 draw at Dynamo in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg, a game in which Garmash was sent off for two bookable offences. Vertongen also played in Ajax's 2-1 second-leg victory.

International team-mates:
Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Viktor Tsygankov, Volodymyr Shepeliev, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Georgiy Bushchan, Oleksandr Karavaev, Mykola Shaparenko, Denys Boyko, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Artem Besedin, Mykyta Burda & Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine)

Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu was in charge of Shakhtar when they defeated Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage but then lost the Matchday 6 return 1-2 in Donetsk.