On September 14, FC Dynamo Kyiv started the Champions League group stage campaign. Mircea Lucescu’s men hosted SL Benfica at the NSC Olimpiyskyi.
Considering that other two teams in our group are Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the home match against Benfica was extremely important.
Before the game, the president of our club Ihor Surkis congratulated Dynamo legend Volodymyr Muntian on his 75th birthday.
The White-Blues chose defensive tactics and let Benfica be mostly in possession, but still home side created the first chance. Shaparenko took a free kick decently, but goalkeeper reached the ball.
Later Dynamo created opportunity for Portuguese side by committing a mistake. Eventually Sydorchuk blocked Everton’s shot from close range by valiant effort.
Visitors bothered our keeper a few more times before the break. Yaremchuk attempted from outside the box, but Boiko parried the strike.
The situation didn’t change a lot after the break. Boiko had to demonstrate his reaction again after another shot by Yaremchuk. Verbic could send Dynamo up, but didn’t reach the ball after low cross from the right side.
In the 82nd minute, the White-Blues could get outnumbered. Harmash was booked and Anthony Taylor thought it was the second yellow, so he was going to send Denys off. Fortunately other players persuaded him that wasn’t really so.
Dynamo could pull out the victory late in the game. At first Shaparenko hit the bar and Buialskyi didn’t manage to send the ball into the net after rebound. In a stoppage time Shaparenko hit the target, but referee disallowed the goal as Harmash, who performed assist, was offside.
So, it’s 0:0. On September 29, Mircea Lucescu’s men will face Bayern in Munich.
Champions League. Group stage. Group E. Matchday 1
FC Dynamo Kyiv – SL Benfica – 0:0
Dynamo: Boiko, Kedziora, Zabarnyi, Syrota, Mykolenko, Sydorchuk (c), Shaparenko, Tsyhankov (Karavayev, 76), de Pena (Verbic, 76), Buialskyi, Shkurin (Harmash, 60).
Benfica: Vlachodimos, Morato, Vertonghen, Otamendi, Weigl, Joao Mario (Taarabt, 86), Grimaldo, Gilberto (Lazaro, 60), Everton, Rafa Silva (Pizzi, 90), Yaremchuk (Nunez, 60).
Booked: Sydorchuk (52), Zabarnyi (73), Harmash (82) – Rafa Silva (21), Yaremchuk (44), Weigl (71).
