Dnipro v Club Brugge preview
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Article summary
Something has to give as FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk host Club Brugge KV in the second leg, with the sides on good runs, locked at 0-0 and equally eager to avoid penalties.
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Article body
• Dnipro meet Club Brugge in Kyiv with quarter-final at 0-0 after first leg
• Dnipro coach Myron Markevych keen to avoid a penalty shoot-out
• Club Brugge coach Michel Preud'homme says the tie is still 50-50
• Belgian side are only unbeaten team left in the competition (W11 D4)
• Dnipro have won last three European home games without conceding
Possible lineups
Dnipro: Boyko; Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Léo Matos; Kankava, Rotan, Bezus, Luchkevych, Konoplyanka; Kalinić.
• Out: Mazuch (knee), Zozulya (knee), Fedorchuk (suspended), Egídio (unspecified), Matheus (back, knee)
Club Brugge: Ryan; De Fauw, Simons, Mechele, De Bock; Vormer, Silva, Vázquez; Refaelov, Oularé, Izquerdo.
• Out: Engels (knee), Meunier (stomach muscle), Gedoz (groin), Bolingoli-Mbombo (ankle)
• Doubtful: Duarte (thigh)
Myron Markevych, Dnipro coach
We have been missing a lot of important players and overall our [substitutes'] bench is too small for the Europa League. We'll have more or less a full lineup for this match, so I hope we don't lose any players during the game. This is what I'm afraid of more than anything.
In some ways, ourselves and Brugge have similar teams; both sides have quick players and good forwards. The first leg showed that and tomorrow it will be a very hard game for both teams. I'd like to avoid a shoot-out to be honest as we had some problems with penalties in the group stage. However, we do have players who can take spot kicks.
Michel Preud'homme, Club Brugge coach
Brugge have not played in the final stages of a European competition for a long time, so we are happy to be here. I'm proud my team are still in the hunt for three trophies – league, cup [which they lifted in March] and Europa League. We'll do our best to succeed in them all. We don't rank competitions according to importance – the next match is always the most important for us.
Dnipro are a very strong team but there are never weak opponents at this stage. They are very well organised; so are we. We have prepared very well, we have studied them thoroughly and we hope to achieve our goal. I don't think they have an advantage from the first leg. Sure, we were not able to score a goal, but we didn't concede either. It's still 50-50.
I agree with Markevych that it'd be better to avoid a shoot-out. But if we have to, we will be ready.
Weekend results
FC Olimpik Donetsk 0-5 Dnipro (Blyznychenko 15, Seleznyov 26 45pen, Konoplyanka 68, Kalinić 76)
Club Brugge 2-1 RSC Anderlecht (Oularé 74, Vormer 86; Mitrović 26)
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Dnipro: WDDWWW
Club Brugge: WDLWWW
Match fact
• Dnipro's Yevhen Konoplyanka is the most fouled played in this season's competition by some distance. He has been impeded 38 times – 12 more than any other player.Find out more in our extensive match background.