Valencia – Dynamo Preview: Who Will Step Up?

By: Yevy | February 26th, 2009

To prolong their up and down European campaign Dynamo will have to breach Valencia’s suspect defense Thursday at the Mestalla. The hosts take an away goal advantage into this match after holding on to a 1-1 draw in Kiev last week. A dubious second yellow card for diving left Dynamo without the services of goalscorer Artem Milevskiy for the second leg of this UEFA Cup tie. With fellow striker Ismael Bangoura ruled out through injury, manager Yuri Semin will need to coax a goal out of someone else in his side if Dynamo are to go through to the next round of Europe’s second tier club competition. Could the return of mercurial playmaker Oleksandr Aliyev be the lift the UPL leaders need?

The squad has been in Spain for almost a week, preparing for Valencia at their familiar training site in Marbella. Over the weekend Dynamo sparred with Russian Premier League club FC Krylia Sovetov Samara. The teams engaged in two split-squad test matches, with Semin fielding what figures to be his first choice eleven in the second encounter. He aligned Dynamo in a 4-5-1 with Artem Kravets as the lone striker. The back four remained unchanged, while in the midfield holders Ognjen Vukojevic and Roman Eremenko supported the creative trio of Aliyev, Serhiy Kravchenko and Florin Cernat. Midfielder Carlos Correa and striker Andriy Yarmolenko came on as second half substitutes in a match that ended 2-0 in favor of the Russians. Yarmolenko also played in the first scrimmage, scoring the lone goal for a side made up of players unlikely to feature against Valencia. Getting a run out in the early match were the suspended Milevskiy, apparently out-of-favor midfielder Tiberiu Ghioane, fitness-seeking winger Oleh Husyev, and striker Guilherme in his first taste of action as a Dynamo player.

Earlier in the week Semin issued a call to arms, decreeing that every player will be given the chance to earn a spot on Thursday’s team sheet. However those familiar with the veteran manager’s work probably realized that in his mind the lineup was set barring injury. In yesterday’s press conference Semin ruled out the participation of Guilherme and midfielder Milos Ninkovic. With Dynamo’s recent run of luck it will shock no one that left back Badr El Kaddouri picked up a knock in training on Tuesday and will be a match time decision. If the versatile Moroccan is able to go I expect the following team to take the pitch against Valencia:
————————-Bohush—————–
Nesmachniy—Betao—Mykhalyk—El Kaddouri
—————-Vukojevic—-Eremenko——————-
———-Aliyev—-Cernat—-Kravchenko————–
————————–Kravets————————
with Yarmolenko, Correa, Ghioane and Husyev most likely to come off the bench. If El Kaddouri is unavailable Andriy Nesmachniy would return to his natural left side and Semin would be left with several unappetizing choices at right back. He could slot in Ghioane or Husyev, both of whom have occasionally filled that role. But if it comes down to it I think Semin will slide Betao back on the outside and call on old horse Goran Sablic to partner Taras Mykhalyk in the middle. All of these options would further weaken a defense that will be tested by dangerous Valencia attackers.

For their part Valencia endured another disappointing showing in La Liga, drawing 1-1 away at Deportivo La Coruna. Hit man David Villa put Los Che ahead with a deft strike before his bump of the opposition keeper sent him to the showers with a highly questionable second booking (hmmm…). Valencia defended valiantly, if not convincingly, and were eventually undone on a set piece. Including Villa’s “brace”, the visitors were shown a total of 9 yellow cards. It has been revealed that winger Joaquin will miss Thursday’s match in order to rest a right leg muscle injury. But the Valencia defense could get a boost with the return of right back Miguel. The truly bad news for Dynamo is Villa’s La Liga suspension means we likely have to deal with him for 90 minutes. Semin admitted the presence of Villa concerns him, “just like any Valencia opponent.” When told that Spanish media thinks David Silva was a deliberate target for rough play last week, Semin jokingly replied “you mean against Deportivo?” before assuring that going after individual players is not part of his tactics.

With the outcome of the tie still hanging in the balance, I expect a far more conservative approach from both managers than what we saw last week. Unai Emery is well aware that not only does a scoreless draw send Valencia through, but that scoring the first goal is far more important to Dynamo than it is to his side. The sane approach would be to sit back and use his team’s pace advantage on the counterattack. For his part Semin is experienced enough that despite being down an away goal he will not panic and drastically alter his tactics. Lets not forget that somewhat lost in all the drama of last week was that Dynamo soundly outplayed Valencia. Milevskiy’s contribution was certainly a factor, but even after his untimely departure Dynamo still had most of the initiative because they maintained control of the center of the pitch. If Vukojevic and Eremenko provide a repeat performance Dynamo can hold their own at the Mestalla. And if we boss this match like we did the first, eventually Valencia will make the fatal error. Prediction: Valencia 1 – 1 Dynamo, goals from Villa and Aliyev (from the spot), with Dynamo going through on penalties.

Category: UEFA Cup 2008/2009

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