The 1st leg ties of these 2nd round qualifying round matches in this season’s Champions League continue on Wednesday night and feature this upcoming intriguing contest between Ukrainian side, Dynamo Kiev, and Turkish visitors, Fenerbahce, when the two teams clash at the Stadion Miejski LKS Lodz in Poland.
Dynamo Kiev finished runners-up in last season’s Ukrainian Premier League just two points shy of the eventual winners, Shakhtar Donetsk, but Wednesday’s hosts have suffered just one defeat in their last 35 matches overall in the domestic top flight as well as losing just once at home in their previous 17 games too.
Переможець пари «Динамо» – «Фенербахче» зіграє з @SKSturm У разі успішного подолання другого кваліфікаційного раунду «біло-сині» зустрінуться з віце-чемпіоном Австрії - «Штурмом» із Граца.Перший матч пройде 2/3 серпня, поєдинок-відповідь відбудеться 9 серпня у Граці. pic.twitter.com/eBG6zNA9TN— FC Dynamo Kyiv (@DynamoKyiv) July 18, 2022
Переможець пари «Динамо» – «Фенербахче» зіграє з @SKSturm У разі успішного подолання другого кваліфікаційного раунду «біло-сині» зустрінуться з віце-чемпіоном Австрії - «Штурмом» із Граца.Перший матч пройде 2/3 серпня, поєдинок-відповідь відбудеться 9 серпня у Граці. pic.twitter.com/eBG6zNA9TN
In addition, Dynamo Kiev have also racked up an impressive total of 13 clean sheets in the process, making them a very tough unit to break down defensively and this could stand them in good stead over these two upcoming legs against Fenerbahce.
The hosts will also be keen to improve upon their previous results in the group stage of the Champions League this time around (should they reach that far), having lost five of their six group games.
Fenerbahce also finished in 2nd place in their domestic Turkish Super Lig campaign at the end of last season although the visitors found themselves being a larger margin of eight points behind the respective title winners, Trabzonspor.
Nevertheless, Fenerbahce put together a valuable 14-match unbeaten run towards the end of last season’s campaign, which enabled the visitors to enter this season’s Champions League competition at the 2nd qualifying round stage.
Fenerbahce have also won six of their last seven away matches in the Turkish Super Lig with victories collected at Giresunspor, Kasimpasa, Alanyaspor, Kayserispor, Rizespor and Yeni Malatyaspor, plundering a total of 24 goals in the process.
However, Fenerbahce are expecting their Wednesday’s hosts, Dynamo Kiev, to not be so amenable to conceding goals in this upcoming 1st leg in Poland, while the Turkish visitors have also experienced their fair share of disappointing results on the road at Champions League level as well.
Fenerbahce have been handed five defeats in their last six away ties at Champions League level, incurring losses at Spartak Moscow, Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Monaco and Benfica, so they are by no means guaranteed a result in Lodz on Wednesday night.
The solid defensive unit of Dynamo Kiev could therefore hand the Ukrainian club a 1st leg lead here.