Dynamo Kiev v Chelsea
With the 3rd round of the Champions League group stage upon us, we take a closer look at our opponents Dynamo Kiev as Chelsea travel to Ukraine.
1. Chelsea and Dynamo Kiev have never met each other in any competition before. This will be their first meeting.
Chelsea and Dynamo Kiev have never met each other in any competition before #CFC #UCL
— Chelsea FC Blog (@chelseablog) October 20, 2015
2. Chelsea have only ever played one game in Ukraine previously, losing to 2-1 to Shaktar Donetsk in October 2012.
3. Chelsea will be the 9th different English club Dynamo Kiev have played. Previously they’ve faced Aston Villa, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Stoke City and Everton.
#UCL is back! pic.twitter.com/4NLuI58ktC
— César Azpilicueta (@CesarAzpi) October 19, 2015
4. They played for both clubs: Andriy Shevchenko
A huge investment for Chelsea and a player that will go down as one of Ukraine’s finest. Signed for around 30 million plus Hernan Crespo his transfer broke the English transfer record at the time.
He never really lived up to his transfer fee scoring only 9 goals in 48 games at Chelsea.
Conversely Shevchenko started and ended his career at Dynamo Kiev. In his first spell he became the stuff of legend winning the league title in each of his 5 seasons at the club earning him a move to AC Milan.
5. Last season saw Kiev win their first Ukrainian Premier League title in 6 years with Shakhtar Donetsk dominating recent history taking the previous 5 championships.
6. Dynamo Kiev hold the most league titles in Ukraine (14), followed by Shakhtar Donetsk (9) and Tavriya Simferopol (1).
7. Kiev are managed by former club legend (and Tottenham) strike Sergei Rebrov. Rebrov only managed 10 goals in 60 games for Spurs despite arriving for a hefty price tag and big billing.
Training will be getting underway shortly on a fresh evening in Kiev. #CFC pic.twitter.com/A2KbaFkOSy
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 19, 2015
8. Kiev currently sit second in the Ukrainian Premier League, with the same record as top team Shakhtar Donetsk, having won 9, drawn 1 and lost 1.
9. Kiev were beaten for the first time in 38 league matches last Friday, losing 3-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk
10. Dynamo Kiev have never won in England. Playing 12 games, they’ve drawn 2 and lost 10. Hopefully this remains a stat when they had to Stamford Bridge for the return fixture.
