Villarreal v Dinamo Minsk background
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Article summary
Villarreal have scored nine goals in two home matches against Belarusian teams and will be hopeful of adding to that total when point-less Dinamo Minsk visit El Madrigal in Group E.
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Villarreal CF will look to maintain their 100% record against Belarusian opponents when they welcome FC Dinamo Minsk in UEFA Europa League Group E.
Previous meetings
• This is the sides' first meeting in UEFA competition.
• Villarreal have won all four of their previous games against Belarusian teams, scoring nine goals combined in their two home victories.
• Dinamo Minsk's only encounters to date with Spanish clubs were a pair of draws against Real Sociedad de Fútbol in the 1987/88 European Cup Winners' Cup second round. They progressed on away goals thanks to a 1-1 draw in San Sebastian.
Form guide
• Dinamo have not scored in normal time in their last three European fixtures, two of them Group E defeats.
• Villarreal registered an impressive 15 goals in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, five of them away from home. They scored at least once in all 12 of their European matches in 2014/15: 29 goals in total.
• Dinamo Minsk have reached this stage for the second season in succession – they did not progress to the round of 32 in 2014/15.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Minsk to Villarreal is around 2,600km.
The coaches
• Villarreal coach Marcelino's career as a midfielder was ended early by injury. As a coach, he worked his way up the Spanish leagues, taking over at his current club in 2013 following spells at Real Zaragoza, Real Racing Club and Sevilla FC.
• Former FK Partizan defender Vuk Rašović has been in charge of Dinamo Minsk since the summer, having stepped up to a front-line role after a spell as the club's director of football. He had previously been on the coaching staff at Partizan and their feeder club FK Teleoptik.
