Partizan will try to overturn a massive four-goal deficit when they take on Dynamo Kiev in the second leg of their Champions League second-round qualifier at Stadion Partizana on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Premier League outfit won last week's match 6-2 at the Arena Lublin stadium in neutral Poland, setting one foot in the next qualifying round where they will meet Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.
Match preview
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Like Dynamo, Partizan Belgrade secured a second-place finish in their domestic league last season, ending up seven points behind their arch-rivals Red Star Belgrade in the title race.
Their European campaign last season was cut short in the Conference League playoff round by Danish team Nordsjaelland, and barring a miraculous comeback here, it seems likely that they will be bowing out of Europe's elite competition in round two this term.
Last week Brazilian striker Matheus Saldanha, who scored 18 goals last season and recently netted a late winner in their league opener against Napredak, gave the Serbian visitors a lead from the penalty spot midway through the first half.
However, their advantage lasted just 18 minutes before the Ukrainian side came to life and began dictating play. By the interval, Crno-beli were 3-1 down and never really looked like they were going to make a comeback in the second 45.
Aleksandar Stanoevich conceded in his post-match press conference that his side need more competitive players to compete at this level and suggested that while the club are working on strengthening the squad, it is something he feels should have been done prior to the commencement of the European competitions.
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Meanwhile, Dynamo Kyiv, who have won the Ukrainian top-flight crown 16 times, narrowly missed out on a 17th title last season, finishing just two points behind Shakhtar Donetsk.
In recent European campaigns, they have fallen short, most recently failing to reach the group stage last season after being defeated by Turkish outfit Besiktas in the Conference League play-off round.
After conceding the first goal of the match last week, Mykola Shaparenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, and right-back Oleksandr Karavaev scored three goals in a four-minute burst just before half time.
Eleven minutes after the break, striker Vladyslav Kabayev increased the lead. Saldanha's second goal momentarily narrowed the deficit, but centre-back Denys Popov scored with six minutes remaining, and midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalyonok netted in stoppage time to secure a commanding victory for the hosts.
Interestingly, if Rangers face Dynamo in the next round, which seems very likely to be the case, both teams will play their home legs at alternative venues with Dynamo hosting their 'home leg' in Poland, while Rangers will hold their home match at Hampden Park due to ongoing renovations at Ibrox.
Team News
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After conceding three quick first-half goals, Stanoevich opted to hook Young-Jun Goh at the break for Aleksandar Scekic, and the latter is likely to be given the nod from the off in this match.
Aldo Kalulu went virtually unnoticed in the first leg and could be left out of the starting 11 in midweek, with Nemanja Trifunovic being the most likely to replace him on the left-hand side of the attack.
Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Volodymyr Shepelev suffered an injury to his ankle in the lead-up to last week's match in Poland and is now expected to remain sidelined for up to a month.
Oleksandr Tymchyk is the only other player flagged as a doubt for this match, but given the scoreline, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi may consider resting a few players, including the likes of veteran midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko.
Partizan possible starting lineup:
Jovanovic; De Medina, Markovic, Mujakic, Antic; Scekic, Arriaga, Zahid, Xander, Trifunovic, Saldanha
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:
Buschan; Karavaev, Dyachuk, Popov, Vivcharenko; Brazhko, Shaparenko; Voloshyn, Buyalsky, Kabaev; Vanat
We say: Partizan 1-3 Dynamo Kiev
While Partizan are expected to put on a better showing this week, there was a clear gulf in class in the first leg, and we feel that Dynamo will secure their place in the next round with another fairly comfortable victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
