Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv match facts

Benfica are closing in on a UEFA Champions League group stage return as they welcome Dynamo Kyiv to Lisbon holding a 2-0 first-leg lead in their play-off and having won all three previous home games against the Ukrainian club.

First-half strikes from Gilberto (9) and Gonçalo Ramos (37) earned the Eagles a 2-0 win in the Polish city of Łódź in the first leg on 17 August as two teams who met in last season’s UEFA Champions League crossed paths again.

The Portuguese side took four points off Dynamo in the 2021/22 group stage, which proved crucial in helping them into the knockout rounds, with their Ukrainian rivals bowing out of European competition having finished bottom of the section.

While Dynamo have come through two qualifying ties in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League to set up this reunion – winning three of their four fixtures – Benfica entered the competition in the third qualifying round, where they recorded an emphatic victory.

Previous meetings

Benfica drew 0-0 at Dynamo on Matchday 1 of last season's UEFA Champions League, a 2-0 success in Lisbon on Matchday 6 – achieved thanks to early goals from former Dynamo forward Roman Yaremchuk (16) and Gilberto (22) – sealing their place in the round of 16 as Group E runners-up. Dynamo's sole point in 2021/22 came courtesy of that opening draw with Benfica. That was the Lisbon club's third win at home to Dynamo in the third game between the clubs, Benfica scoring eight goals without conceding.

The teams were also paired in the 2016/17 group stage, Benfica winning 2-0 in Kyiv on Matchday 3 thanks to goals from Eduardo Salvio (9pen) and Franco Cervi (55) before Salvio (45+2) scored the only goal in Lisbon, again from the spot. Those six points helped the Eagles finish second to Napoli in Group B on eight points, with Dynamo eliminated in fourth place on five.

The sides also met in the 1991/92 European Cup group stage when Dynamo won 1-0 at home, Oleh Salenko getting the only goal for Anatoliy Puzach's team. Sven-Göran Eriksson's Benfica emphatically turned the tables in the return, César Brito and ex-Dynamo striker Sergei Yuran both scoring twice in a 5-0 win.

Form guide

Benfica
Benfica are aiming to reach the group stage for the 17th time and the 12th in 13 seasons – they missed out only in 2020/21, when they were beaten by PAOK in the third qualifying round.

In 2021/22 the Eagles came through two qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, where they collected eight points to finish second in Group E behind Bayern München, eliminating Barcelona in the process. They then ousted Ajax in the round of 16 (2-2 h, 1-0 a) before losing to Liverpool in the quarter-finals (1-3 h, 3-3 a).

The Lisbon club defeated PSV Eindhoven in last season's play-offs (2-1 h, 0-0 a) to make it three wins from three at this stage of the UEFA Champions League; they also beat Twente in 2011/12 (2-2 a, 3-1 h) and PAOK in 2018/19 (1-1 h, 4-1 a). The first leg of this tie means they are still yet to lose a play-off game.

Benfica – who were third in the Portuguese Liga in 2021/22, 17 points behind champions Porto and 11 adrift of runners-up Sporting CP – have reached seven European Cup finals, winning the trophy in 1961 and 1962 but losing on their five subsequent appearances, most recently against AC Milan in 1990.

The Portuguese giants kicked off this season under new coach Roger Schmidt in the third qualifying round, recording two emphatic wins against Midtjylland (4-1 h, 3-1) with Gonçalo Ramos scoring a first-leg hat-trick.

Before last season the most recent of Benfica's matches against Ukrainian clubs came in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League round of 32, when they lost to Shakhtar (1-2 a, 3-3 h). Last season’s win against Benfica made their home record W5 D1 L2.

The 3-1 defeat by Liverpool in last season's quarter-final first leg is one of only three in Benfica's last 20 European matches at their own stadium (W12 D5).

Benfica have lost only one of 20 UEFA competition ties after winning the first leg away, against Ajax in the 1968/69 European Cup quarter-finals, when they followed a 3-1 win in Amsterdam with a home defeat by the same scoreline and subsequently lost a Paris play-off 3-0. Most recently they beat Spartak Moskva in last season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (2-0 a, 2-0 h), the third time they had won 2-0 away in the first game.

Benfica's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
4-1 v Torpedo Moskva, 1977/78 European Cup first round
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 1987/88 European Cup final
4-1 v PAOK, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
2-4 v Sevilla, 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final

Dynamo Kyiv
Dynamo are aiming to make their 19th appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage – a Ukrainian record, with Shakhtar Donetsk set to participate for the 17th time in 2022/23. Dynamo are also looking to feature in the group stage for the third season in succession having missed three in a row from 2017/18 to 2019/20.

In 2021/22, after that opening draw with Benfica, Dynamo lost their five subsequent games to finish fourth in Group E behind Bayern, Benfica and Barcelona.

The Kyiv club have needed extra time to win both their ties so far in this season's UEFA Champions League, against Fenerbahçe in the second qualifying round (0-0 h, 2-1 a) and Sturm Graz n the third qualifying round (1-0 h, 2-1 a).

This is Dynamo's fourth UEFA Champions League play-off, the 2020/21 victory against Gent (2-1 a, 3-0 h) making their record at this stage of the competition W2 L2.

Dynamo have played 24 games against Portuguese sides with the record W7 D6 L12 (W3 D2 L7 away). Their last contests before 2021/22 came in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League play-offs, a 3-1 aggregate win against Marítimo (0-0 a, 3-1 h).

Before this season, Dynamo had won only two of 15 European away games (D4 L9), although they have been victorious in both in 2022/23.

Dynamo have won two of the ten UEFA competition ties in which they lost the first leg at home, most recently against Trabzonspor in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (1-2 h, 2-0 a). They have lost all four when the initial home defeat has been by a two-goal margin, including three with the score at 0-2, the most recent against Villarreal in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (0-2 a).

Dynamo's record in one UEFA penalty shoot-out is W1 L0:
3-1 v Sparta Praha, 1998/99 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round

Links and trivia

Benfica's Yaremchuk came through the Dynamo academy, which he joined in 2007. He made nine league appearances for his home-town club in 2016/17 but failed to score.

Yaremchuk's Dynamo team-mates included Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Viktor Tsygankov, Volodymyr Shepeliev, Denys Garmash, Mykyta Burda, Artem Besedin, Georgiy Bushchan and Oleksandr Tymchyk.

Yaremchuk also played for Ukrainian side Olexandriya in 2016/17, scoring six goals in 17 appearances in all competitions.

Rodrigo Pinho was a second-half substitute in Marítimo's 0-0 draw at home to Dynamo in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League play-off first leg; Sydorchuk, Garmash, Buyalskiy, Shepeliev and substitute Tsygankov all played for the Ukrainian club.

Nicolás Otamendi was in the Porto side that took four points off Dynamo in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage (3-2 h, 0-0 a) and also started both legs as Manchester City beat the Ukrainian club in the 2015/16 round of 16 (3-1 a, 0-0 h).

A Jan Vertonghen goal earned Ajax a 1-1 draw at Dynamo in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg, a game in which Garmash was sent off for two bookable offences. Vertongen also played in Ajax's 2-1 second-leg victory.

International team-mates:
Roman Yaremchuk & Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Viktor Tsygankov, Volodymyr Shepeliev, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Georgiy Bushchan, Oleksandr Karavaev, Mykola Shaparenko, Denys Boyko, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Artem Besedin, Mykyta Burda (Ukraine)

Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu was in charge of Shakhtar when they defeated Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage but then lost the Matchday 6 return 1-2 in Donetsk.