Dynamo vs Bruges: Who Is the Favourite, Who to Fear and How to Win

Everything you need to know about the upcoming opponent of Mircea Lucescu's team and the chances of Ukraine's runners-up.

When Manchester United and Ajax are among the possible opponents, it is perfectly logical to be happy with the draw that sends Bruges as the opponent. This Belgian football giant last reached the knockout stage of European competition in the 2014/2015 season, and back then its progress was halted by a Ukrainian club, Dnipro of Myron Markevych. But there is one important point: while Ukraine's strongest clubs have not grown any stronger since that time (Shakhtar is still trying to rebuild, Dynamo is stagnating due to the lack of quality reinforcements, and some have ceased to exist altogether), Bruges has been making noticeable progress in recent years.

This is evident at least from their recent performances in Europe: four appearances in the Champions League group stage over the last five years, draws with the same Manchester United, with Atletico and Real Madrid, and very recent wins over Zenit, which is flush with Gazprom money. It is also noticeable in the domestic championship, where Bruges is almost certain to win the title: the regular season is essentially already in the bag, and there should be no problems in the championship play-off either, given the points advantage when the points are split in two.

Thanks to successful work in the transfer market, with well-established sales of players to England and France, the club has the opportunity to prepare the construction of a new 40,000-seat stadium and to make quality reinforcements to the squad. Earning more than 60 million euros a year from sales, Bruges can sometimes afford to spend 5-6 million euros on a new player, and (though not always, but often) head coach Philippe Clement receives from the scouting department exactly what the team needed.

Today's Bruges is a team without obvious weak spots. In the first part of the season the squad still had problems: there was no prolific striker (things did not work out for Czech player Krmencik, and he was ultimately let go half a year after his signing) and there was no reliable left-back. In winter these problems were solved. On a budget, but with quality: from Eintracht they took Bas Dost for 4 million euros, who has already managed to score six goals for the new club, and to strengthen the defence, where Federico Ricca and our Eduard Sobol had not impressed, they brought back Stefano Denswil from Bologna, who can also play in central midfield.

Otherwise, everything was in perfect order for the team: Simon Mignolet, once mercilessly criticised, is showing consistent play and by the end of 2020 entered the top five players of the Belgian championship; in central defence the Kossounou-Mechele pair has gelled well; in midfield the long-familiar trio of Rits, Vormer and Vanaken; and the creative and extremely talented Lang and De Ketelaere on the flanks.

Dynamo also has enough talent of its own, but when it comes to cohesion and having established players with experience, which is extremely important in knockout matches, Bruges has a clear advantage. And that is precisely why, until mid-January, Bruges seemed the obvious favourite in this Europa League tie, rather than Ukraine's runners-up.

They probably still remain so now, even after it became known that the COVID-19 virus had infiltrated the squad, due to which Clement and his assistants will not be able to manage the team in Kyiv, and Vanaken, Denswil and reserve centre-back Mitrović will definitely not take the field. But if Lang and De Ketelaere, who are also unwell but have tested negative, do not play either, that will be a big chance for Dynamo.

Yes, Bruges has a decent squad depth, and Clement will find someone to replace those who ultimately cannot play in the first match, but each of his changes will have its own effect: the absence of Denswil will affect reliability in the left centre-back and left-back zone, without Vanaken the team will lose one of its leaders, and if there is no Lang or De Ketelaere either, the team will be left with almost no players capable of making a difference up front.

Yes, Ruud Vormer is quite capable of finding Dost's head with a cross from deep, and one must also beware of overlapping runs to the byline by the active right-back Clinton Mata, followed by a low cross into the centre of the penalty area. But Vanaken, Lang and De Ketelaere are precisely the players who are responsible for sharpening the play through passes or one-on-one dribbling. Substitutes to watch? David Okereke is quick and energetic but very straightforward. Yusuf Badji is physically strong but untrained, and Tait Chong is gifted but inconsistent and clearly not yet settled into the team.

The possible absence of two of the opponent's best scorers at once (Lang has 12 goals, Vanaken 11) and the country's main talent in the Belgian championship (De Ketelaere was named the best young player in the country in 2020) is good news for Dynamo's defenders, but Dynamo still has to do something up front. And here too there are several important points to note.

There is a high chance that, instead of the creative Vanaken, the destroyer Eder Balanta will come into the middle as a third central midfielder alongside Rits and Vormer, and as a result Clement will give the full-backs even more freedom. And it is precisely into the spaces behind them that Dynamo's attacking players would do well to run, stretching the opposing defensive line. There is a better chance this will work in the zone between the not-so-fast centre-back Mechele and Sobol/Ricca, who often wander forward. But it is also worth keeping an eye on Mata down the flank, since the Angolan is also fond of lingering up front.

Despite it being an away match, one should expect Bruges to play bold attacking football with many players joining the attack, so Clement's side can certainly be caught on the counterattack. Here it will be important to get out of the first wave of pressing, when opponents will be aggressively meeting them on the half of the pitch that is not yet foreign to them. The first and only touch of the 'false striker', or whoever Dynamo fields up front, could play a key role.

If Lang and De Ketelaere do manage to take the field, one must be very attentive at the back with them (do not let Lang into the middle on his right foot, and try to act pre-emptively against De Ketelaere), but also expect the young Bruges talents to relax when defending, since working without the ball is not particularly to their liking, especially closer to the final third of the match.

In general, however, there are still doubts about how far Lucescu's team will go.