Sturm Graz take on the visitors Dynamo Kyiv in the second leg of UEFA Champions League qualification semifinals. First leg result: 0-1. The match will be played on Tuesday, August 9th at Merkur-Arena (Graz).
Sturm were perceived as a kind of "dark horse". Yes, this is a fairly well-known team, a 3-time Austrian champion. But lately in this country, football exists on the principle of Red Bull and the rest. All champion titles are meticulously collected in Salzburg, leaving the rest to fight for a maximum of 2nd place. And last season, the Blacks finally got lucky. But still they were perceived as a team of rather little-known football players. To match them and the coach, Christian Ilzer. This is a 44-year-old specialist who moved to Graz in 2020, and before that he headed Wolfsberger and Austria for the season. Playing in Lodz "Sturm" started their fight in qualifying. But before that, they had a good start in the domestic arena, unexpectedly beating Salzburg thanks to the double of the young Danish striker Heilun. But with the Ukrainians it all ended 0-1. Although the same striker had good chances to open the score first.
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Dynamo Kyiv so far only play in the Champions League qualification. Although Mircea Lucescu traditionally fills the gaps between official matches with friendly matches. This is his usual way to keep all wards in good shape. This helped to give a rather unexpected result in the previous round. Then, deprived of the practice of official matches for more than half a year, the Ukrainians met with the ambitious Fenerbahce. And the Turks, led by a new mentor, Georges Jesus, were knocked out. Yes, the Istanbul grandee had an advantage in both meetings, and the best among the Ukrainians was the goalkeeper, Buschan. But it seems that this was precisely the tactic of the Romanian "Mister". Already after the victory over the "canaries", the team lost another legionnaire. Verbic decided to move to Panathinaikos. Still, they were able, albeit not with the brightest and most confident game, to take the victory. Again, as with the Turks, the decisive ball was scored by Karavaev.
Before this confrontation, there was only a friendly match in the winter of 2018. It was confidently won by Sturm 2-0. Bookmakers believe that Sturm can take revenge. But Dynamo and their mentor are more experienced and can achieve the desired result. We recommend betting that the visitors will not lose.
Prediction for the match: Dynamo Kyiv to win with +0.5 handicap (X2).
