Dinamo Minsk v Villarreal background
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Article summary
A 4-0 defeat at El Madrigal on matchday three has left Dinamo Minsk in dire straits – another loss to Villarreal would end their hopes of progressing from Group E.
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Beaten in their first three Group E games, FC Dinamo Minsk realistically need a win at home against Villarreal CF to keep their UEFA Europa League hopes alive.
Previous meetings
• Cédric Bakambu's first two goals in UEFA competition set Villarreal en route to a 4-0 victory in the sides' first meeting, on matchday three.
• Dinamo Minsk's only previous encounters 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.
• Villarreal have won all five of their previous fixtures against Belarusian teams, scoring 17 goals and conceding only two.
Form guide
• If Dinamo Minsk fail to win, they will almost certainly be out – a draw would theoretically keep them in the running, but their qualification would depend upon a very unlikely set of results in the remaining games.
• Skënderbeu and Dinamo Minsk are the only clubs to have lost all three of their group stage games this term.
• Dinamo Minsk are the only team yet to score in this season's group stage. No team has reached the end of a UEFA Europa League group stage without finding the net.
• Dinamo Minsk have reached this stage for the second season in succession – they did not progress to the round of 32 in 2014/15.
• 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.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Villarreal to Minsk is around 2,600km.
• Dinamo Minsk forward Fatos Bećiraj can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance on matchday four.
The coaches
• 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.
• 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.
