Metalist after more of the same against PSV
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Article summary
Buoyed by a handsome victory on Matchday 1, FC Metalist Kharkiv will be keen on a repeat performance when PSV Eindhoven visit Ukraine in UEFA Europa League Group I.
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FC Metalist Kharkiv put in a stunning display to win 5-0 at Debreceni VSC on Matchday 1 and will look to produce more fireworks when PSV Eindhoven visit Ukraine in UEFA Europa League Group I.
Previous meetings
• The two teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.
• Metalist's only experience of Dutch opposition came in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round, when they were eliminated by Roda JC after following up a 1-0 defeat in Kerkrade with a goalless home stalemate.
• PSV know a little more about sides from Ukraine, with their eight games against Premier League teams ending W3 D2 L3 (W1 D1 L2 away from home).
Match background
• Metalist have lost just once in their previous eight European home matches, going down 1-0 against SK Sturm Graz in last season's UEFA Europa League play-offs.
• The Ukrainian side finished top of their section with three wins and a draw in their only previous UEFA Cup group stage campaign, inflicting 1-0 reverses on SL Benfica, Galatasaray AŞ (both away) and Olympiacos FC in 2008/09.
• PSV featured in their first UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League group stage campaign last season, cruising through without defeat.
• PSV have won just once in their last five away fixtures in Europe, beating CFR 1907 Cluj 2-0 in last season's UEFA Europa League group phase.
Team facts
• Myron Markevich has been coach of Metalist since summer 2005, briefly combining his job with that of Ukraine coach before stepping down to focus on his club duties in summer 2010. Having retired as a player at 28, he reached new heights after moving to Kharkiv, leading the club to four successive third-place league finishes from 2006/07 onwards – the best results in their history – as well as European success.
• Hired in April 2009 just a month after being dismissed by FC Schalke 04, Fred Rutten won three titles with PSV as assistant to Guus Hiddink in the mid-2000s. A defender, he spent his entire playing career with FC Twente, moving straight from the pitch to the dugout as assistant coach in 1988. First given the top job in 1999, he led Twente to triumph in the 2000/01 Dutch Cup before heading for PSV, initially to work with the youth team. He returned to Enschede in 2006, leaving for Gelsenkirchen two years later.
