Why Dynamo Kyiv have risen and can end Rangers’ Champions League bid
THE great Dynamo Kyiv teams of the 1970s and 1980s regularly dealt formidable European rivals the sort of heavy and humiliating thrashings which Partizan Belgrade were on the receiving end of last month.
But the 9-2 aggregate defeat which the shellshocked Serbian side suffered at the hands of their Ukrainian opponents in the second qualifying round of the Champions League was a major surprise.
Dynamo have been a pale imitation of the force they were when the renowned Valeriy Lobanovskyi was their manager in modern times due to a variety of on and off-field factors – not least their ongoing war with Russia.
Last term, they failed to make it through to the group stages of the third tier Conference League.
So why have they suddenly found their form again? Are the two-time European Cup Winners’ Cup champions and ex-UEFA Super Cup winners capable of maintaining it and recapturing their former glories? And will they have too much for a Rangers team in the third qualifying round double header which gets underway in Lublin tonight?
