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Dynamo out to finish off Mönchengladbach

FC Dynamo Kyiv hold a healthy first-leg advantage, with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach needing to overturn a 3-1 deficit in their play-off to deny their hosts a group stage return.

Dynamo celebrate their first-leg victory
Dynamo celebrate their first-leg victory ©AFP/Getty Images

FC Dynamo Kyiv are well placed to reach the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time since 2009/10, with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach needing to turn round a 3-1 UEFA Champions League play-off deficit.

• In their first European Cup tie since reaching the semi-finals in 1978, Mönchengladbach made an ideal first-leg start as Alexander Ring gave them a 13th-minute lead, but goals from Taras Mikhalik (28) and Andriy Yarmolenko (36) turned the tie in Dynamo's favour. A late own goal from Luuk de Jong left the Ukrainian side in charge of the tie.

Past meetings
• The teams' sole previous encounter came in the semi-finals of the 1976/77 European Champion Clubs' Cup when Mönchengladbach overcame a 1-0 loss in Kyiv – Volodymyr Onyschenko the scorer – thanks to a 2-0 home victory, courtesy of Rainer Bonhof's first-half penalty and a Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp goal with eight minutes remaining. Mönchengladbach's reward was a final date with Liverpool FC in Rome, where they ran out 3-1 losers.

• Onyschenko is still with Dynamo, where he is deputy director of the club's football department and head of the club's youth academy. Bonhof is now Mönchengladbach's vice president.

Match background
• While Mönchengladbach finished fourth in the 2011/12 Bundesliga, Dynamo were runners-up in Ukraine last season and beat Feyenoord 3-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round.

• Yuri Semin's Dynamo are bidding to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the 15th time overall and the first time since 2009/10. They suffered defeats by AFC Ajax in the 2010/11 play-offs and by FC Rubin Kazan in last term's third qualifying round.

• Dynamo's record against German clubs is P27 W12 D5 L10 (W8 D3 L2 at home, W4 D2 L7 in Germany). Among those victories are the 1-0 away win and the 2-0 home success against FC Bayern München that secured the 1975 UEFA Super Cup.

• For Mönchengladbach, this is the first taste of European football since their 1996/97 UEFA Cup campaign when they eliminated Arsenal FC before losing to AS Monaco FC in the second round.

Team ties
• As FC Lokomotiv Moskva coach, Semin won 1-0 at Bayern in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup first round, only for his team to go down 5-0 in the return. Semin's Lokomotiv lost home and away to first VfB Stuttgart in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, and then Borussia Dortmund in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Mönchengladbach boss Lucien Favre's previous visit to Ukraine as a coach resulted in a goalless draw for Hertha BSC Berlin at FC Metalist Kharkiv in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage. Raffael, who played under Favre at Hertha between 2008 and 2010, was a late substitute.

• Dynamo's Admir Mehmedi scored past Mönchengladbach's Marc-André ter Stegen in Switzerland's 5-3 friendly win over Germany in May this year. Mehmedi is an international colleague of Mönchengladbach's Granit Xhaka.

• Dynamo's Yarmolenko scored in Ukraine's 3-3 friendly draw with Germany in Kyiv last November.

• Mönchengladbach's Martin Stranzl was in the FC Spartak Moskva side beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Dynamo in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League in 2008/09.

• While playing for Club Atlético de Madrid, Mönchengladbach's Álvaro Domínguez got the better of a Sporting Clube de Portugal side featuring Dynamo's Miguel Veloso in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 16, winning on away goals. With the Spain Under-21 side, meanwhile, Domínguez enjoyed victories over a Ukraine team featuring Dynamo's Denys Garmash and Yarmolenko in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship group stage – Garmash was sent off – and then Mehmedi's Switzerland in the final.

• Mönchengladbach's De Jong scored past Dynamo's Denys Boyko when the Netherlands took on Ukraine in a play-off for those same U21 finals – but it was Ukraine who progressed on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

• Striker and 1986 Golden Ball winner Ihor Belanov left Dynamo for Mönchengladbach in 1989 and hit four goals in 24 league appearances in 18 months with the club.