Manchester City
Manchester City trusts to avoid their nth European failure this Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. / Fox Sports in Ukraine against an excited Dinamo Kiev that returns to the Champions League round of 16 after 17 years.
Manchester City
Manchester City wants to avoid their third consecutive elimination in the round of 16 and establish themselves once and for all as a power in Europe, something that Manuel Pellegrini, who faces his last months on the Etihad bench before the arrival of Pep Guardiola, has not been able to achieve.
After three consecutive defeats against Chelsea (5-1), Tottenham (1-2) and Leicester (1-2), the Chilean coach has to recover the lost shine in the last few weeks and motivate demoralized players.
New week, new battles. We go back to the Champions League and fight for the Capital One Cup. Let's go City! pic.twitter.com/U1SS0rMBXn
- Manchester City FC (@MCFCEspanol) February 22, 2016
Eliminated from the FA Cup and with their chances in the Premier League drastically reduced, the Champions League and the League Cup - the final is on Sunday against Liverpool - are the only competitions that can give some brightness to Pellegrini's stay in England.
Manchester City has several absences - Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony, Eliaquim Mangala, Kevin De Bruyne, Fabian Delph and Bacary Sagna - but that should not prevent them from fielding a competitive team capable of winning in Kiev.
Pellegrini rested many regulars last Sunday in the resounding defeat against Chelsea, so the starters will come to the match without an excessive load of minutes.
Dinamo Kiev
Dinamo Kiev has had to wait almost 17 years to return to the round of 16 of the Champions League, so they are not willing to miss the historic opportunity that presents itself against a demoralized Manchester City.
The Ukrainians have returned to the elite led from the bench by the player who reached the semifinals of this competition against Bayern Munich in the 1998-99 season, Sergei Rebrov, who then formed a fearsome duo with Andriy Shevchenko.
In the quarter-finals, they eliminated the reigning champion, Real Madrid, but the sale of Shevchenko to Milan condemned Dinamo to ostracism, in addition to the emergence of Shakhtar Donetsk in the local championship.
Rebrov has managed to turn the situation around and surprisingly managed to get his team into the round of 16 after eliminating Porto, a classic of the Champions League, and suffering only one defeat against Chelsea in London.
Unlike Shakhtar, the backbone of Dinamo consists of Ukrainian players, starting with the goalkeeper, defended by Shovkovsky, the eternal captain of the Kiev team at almost 42 years old.
In the center of defense, Jacheridi is indisputable, an imposing central defender with unpredictable reactions, while in the forward line is Dinamo's biggest star, Yarmolenko.
Precisely, the Ukrainian left-sided player is Rebrov's biggest concern, as he has been carrying discomfort since he was injured at the end of last year.
Despite not playing a single minute during the friendly matches in the winter camp in Spain, Yarmolenko has insisted that he is not willing to miss this match for anything in the world, so he will play with pain.
Dinamo also has Ibero-American influence with Portuguese players Antunes and Veloso, Brazilians Moraes and Silva, and Paraguayan Derlis Gonzalez, who arrived in Kiev last summer and has earned Rebrov's trust.
As usual with teams from Eastern Europe, their advantage is that they reach the round of 16 very fresh, thanks to the winter break, but their disadvantage is that they lack match practice, which is usually noticeable in the second halves.
Possible line-ups:
Dinamo Kiev: Shovkovsky; Silva, Dragovic, Jacheridi, Antunes; Garmash, Sidorchuk, Buyalsky, Derlis Gonzalez; Yarmolenko and Moraes.
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Clichy; Fernando, Fernandinho, Silva, Touré, Sterling and Agüero.
EFE