Dynamo planning to end PSG challenge

FC Dynamo Kyiv hold a slight advantage going into the second leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain FC, but the French side know a score draw would be enough to send them through following a goalless stalemate at the Parc des Princes.

1) Match background

Previous meetings:
Paris Saint-Germain FC 0-0 FC Dynamo Kyiv
2008/09 UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg

FC Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain FC
1994/95 UEFA Champions League group stage

• PSG had the better of the chances in the French capital, with Beninese midfielder Stéphane Sessegnon particularly active, but they failed to trouble Dynamo goalkeeper Stanislav Bogush as often as they might have wished and had to remain alert at the back against technically assured visitors.

• PSG and Dynamo met on two occasions before that game, with then coach Luis Fernandez's PSG twice overcoming József Szabó's Dynamo in the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Le Guen played at the back for PSG in both matches, while goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy, then just 19 but now 34, appeared in both games for Dynamo.

Dynamo's record against French clubs: P11 W2 D3 L6
Dynamo's record at home against French clubs: P5 W1 D2 L2
PSG's record against Ukrainian clubs: P5 W4 D1 L0
PSG's record away against Ukrainian clubs: P2 W2 D0 L0

• PSG had won all four of their previous games against Ukrainian sides prior to the first leg of this tie, scoring eight goals and conceding just one. That solitary strike came away against Dynamo in 1994.

• Dynamo have failed to win in their last four home games against French sides since beating AS Saint-Etienne 2-0 at home in the first leg of a European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final on 3 March 1976.

• Dynamo have lost their two previous knockout ties against French teams. They were eliminated by St-Etienne in the aforementioned quarter-final after losing the away leg 3-0 and by Stade Lavallois-Mayenne FC in the first round of the 1983/84 UEFA Cup.

• This is Le Guen's first tie against a Ukrainian outfit since he moved into coaching.

• Dynamo boss Yuri Semin coached FC Lokomotiv Moskva when they faced AS Monaco FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League first knockout round. His charges won 2-1 at home but bowed out on away goals after a 1-0 loss in France.

• PSG's Jérôme Rothen played in both legs of that match for Monaco, while his Parc des Princes team-mate Ludovic Giuly was an unused substitute in the first fixture.

• This is not the only France versus Ukraine tie in the quarter-finals: FC Shakhtar Donetsk face Olympique de Marseille in one of the other fixtures.

• Dynamo's Senegalese defender Pape Diakhate (AS Nancy-Lorraine 2001-07) and Guinean forward Ismaël Bangoura (Le Mans UC 72 2005-07) have both played in France.

• Bangoura and PSG's Sessegnon were team-mates at Le Mans in the 2006/07 season.

• Bangoura arrived at Le Mans in 2005, a year after striker Fabrice Pancrate left the club for PSG.

• Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko expressed her gratitude to Dynamo, Shakhtar and eliminated FC Metalist Kharkiv for their achievements after the three Premier League teams competed in the Round of 16, saying their success augured well for Ukraine's co-hosting of UEFA EURO 2012™.

• French League Cup holders PSG qualified for the Round of 32 as third-placed finishers in Group A. They then proved too strong for VfL Wolfsburg in the Round of 32, winning 2-0 at home and 3-1 away. Le Guen's men lived on their nerves in the Round of 16, drawing 0-0 at home against SC Braga before prevailing 1-0 in Portugal.

• Runners-up in the Ukrainian Premier League last season, Dynamo finished third in UEFA Champions League Group G to reach the UEFA Cup Round of 32. Having overcome Valencia CF on away goals to reach the Round of 16, drawing 1-1 in Ukraine and 2-2 in Spain, they then got the better of Metalist on away goals, winning 1-0 at home but losing 3-2 in Kharkov.

• The winners of this tie will meet either Shakhtar or Marseille in the semi-finals on 30 April and 7 May, playing the first leg at home. The winners of that semi-final will be the nominal home side in the final at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul on 20 May.

Penalties:-
Dynamo: Dynamo won their only UEFA club competition shoot-out to date, beating AC Sparta Praha 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate result in the second qualifying round of the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League.

PSG: In their only UEFA club competition tie decided on penalties, PSG lost 4-3 on spot-kicks at home against Rangers FC in the third round of the 2001/02 UEFA Cup.

2) Form book

Dynamo: In the last eight of the UEFA Cup for the first time, Dynamo have scored once in all five of their most recent UEFA club competition home games.

Last five European games: DDWLD
Last five European home games: DLWDW
Top scorer (Europe): Artem Kravets (2) & Artem Milevskiy (2)

Last five domestic games: WWWWW
Last five domestic home games: WWWWW
Top scorer (Premier League): Olexandr Aliyev, Ismaël Bangoura (12)

PSG: PSG knocked out Real Madrid CF in their only previous UEFA Cup quarter-final appearance in the 1992/93 season. The Paris side are unbeaten in eight European encounters since losing 3-1 at FC Schalke 04 in the group stage this season and have not tasted defeat in their last three away fixtures since then.

Last five European games: WWDWD
Last five European away games: WLDWW
Top scorer (Europe): Péguy Luyindula (6)

Last five domestic games: WLLWD
Last five domestic away games: WDWLD
Top scorer (Ligue 1): Guillaume Hoarau (16)

Disciplinary information:
Dynamo: Olexandr Aliyev and Taras Mikhalik are within a booking of one-match bans.

PSG: Péguy Luyindula is also within a caution of a lay-off.

3) Who are...

Dynamo

Honours
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1974/75, 1985/86
• UEFA Super Cup: 1975
• Domestic honours: 12 Ukrainian titles, 9 Ukrainian Cups, 13 Soviet titles, 9 USSR Cups

Trivia
• Founded in 1927, the club were a thorn in the side of the big Moscow teams during the Soviet era, winning a record 13 titles. Since independence they have dominated Ukrainian football, winning 12 titles and nine Ukrainian Cups.

• Two Dynamo players won the Ballon d'Or while at the club – Oleh Blokhin in 1975 and Igor Belanov in 1986. A third, Andriy Shevchenko, took the title in 2004, having left for AC Milan in 1999.

• A winger for Dynamo in the 1950s and 1960s, coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy led Dynamo to their landmark European successes and guided the Soviet Union to a runners-up finish at the 1988 UEFA European Championship. Following his death in 2002, Dynamo renamed their home stadium in his honour and erected a statue to his memory outside.

PSG

Honours
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1995/96
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001
• Domestic honours: 2 French titles, 7 French Cups

Trivia
• PSG trace their roots back to the formation of Stade Saint-Germain in 1904, with the current club being forged through a 1970 merger with Paris FC.

• PSG are one of only two Ligue 1 sides to have won a major European trophy. Their 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup success represents France's most recent triumph in major club competition.

• Last promoted to Ligue 1 in 1974, they are the longest-standing side in the French top division. Their Parc des Princes home was also the venue where the French national team won their first major international honour – the 1984 UEFA European Championship.