There are 32 teams remaining in the UEFA Europa League this season and two of them meet on Thursday night at the Krasnodar Stadium as Krasnodar play Dinamo Zagreb.
The hosts are currently 7th in the Russian Premier League while the visitors are 3 points clear at the top of the 1.HNL in Croatia.
«Быки» закончили второй зимний сбор, который проходил в Марбелье, на юге провинции Андалусия.Команда продолжит подготовку к сезону на учебно-тренировочной базе «Четук».18 февраля нам предстоит домашний матч 1/16 финала Лиги Европы против «Динамо Загреб».Ждем вас на трибунах🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/GCWAzCNZtx— FCKrasnodar (@FCKrasnodar) February 12, 2021
«Быки» закончили второй зимний сбор, который проходил в Марбелье, на юге провинции Андалусия.Команда продолжит подготовку к сезону на учебно-тренировочной базе «Четук».18 февраля нам предстоит домашний матч 1/16 финала Лиги Европы против «Динамо Загреб».Ждем вас на трибунах🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/GCWAzCNZtx
Krasnodar enter this stage of the Europa League having finished in third place in their Champions League group. Having been drawn with Chelsea, Sevilla, and Rennes, it was always going to be a difficult task for the Russian team to finish in the top two places but they did manage to finish 4 points above Rennes.
Krasnodar recorded just a single victory in the Champions League group stages this season and that came at home against Rennes.
Despite only winning one game, Krasnodar were competitive for much of their Champions League campaign this season and only once did they suffer a big defeat, which came at the hands of group winners, Chelsea.
Trends show Krasnodar are difficult to beat at home in the Europa League and they have remained undefeated in 9 of their last 10 matches on home soil. Both teams have scored in 8 of those 10 home Europa League games.
Dinamo Zagreb make the trip to Russia having finished top of Europa League Group K this season. This was a group where it seemed as though any of the four teams could have progressed to the knockout stages of the competition but in the end, it was Dinamo Zagreb who finished as comfortable winners.
Dinamo Zagreb remained undefeated throughout the group and won 4 of their 6 fixtures. Having started with a pair of 0-0 draws, Dinamo Zagreb clicked into gear and recorded back-to-back victories against Wolfsberger AC before beating Feyenoord 2-0 away from home and CSKA Moscow 3-1 at home to top the group.
Dinamo Zagreb won two of their 3 away group games but they are their only two victories in their last 6 away Europa League matches. The Croatian club have scored at least one goal in 3 of their last 5 away Europa League games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Krasnodar will have experienced Swedish striker Marcus Berg in attack. Dutch midfielder Tonny Vilhena should also start the match.
Dinamo Zagreb can call upon Swiss international striker Mario Gavranović and he could be joined by Croatian, Mislav Oršić in attack.
This has the makings of being an exciting night of Europe League football in Russia, with both teams finding the back of the net. However, Krasnodar have a good home record in the competition and could seal a narrow victory ahead of the second leg in Croatia.