Champions League
2012-09-18 - PSG vs Dynamo Kyiv
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : Champions League group stages
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris
Tuesday 18th September – Kickoff time: 20:45 GMT+1
PSG
After an eight year absence PSG returns to the most important European competition as they open their campaign at Parc des Princes hosting Dynamo Kyiv.
In 2004 PSG finished bottom in a group containing CSKA Moscow, Chelsea and 2012 rivals FC Porto. Having spent huge amounts on transfers, ambitions are high at PSG, they’ll surely want to progress to the knockout stages this time.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who needs no introductions, has attempted to temper expectations giving Manchester City’s example when they crashed out of the competition finishing third in the group stages.
All eyes will be on Zlatan here, he scored five goals in four league games and he’s also the third best scorer in UCL (among players set to feature this season) behind Messi and Ronaldo, with 28 goals to his name.
Thiago Silva is still a doubt, but he may be given the chance to make his debut at PSG. We should also see Lavezzi after missing the past three weeks.
Dynamo Kyiv
Second in last season’s Ukrainian Premier League, Dynamo Kyiv is a regular in the competition, they’ll be making their 14th appearance in the UCL.
The last time things didn’t go too well despite an opening day victory over Rubin Kazan (2009/10) and a prestigious draw at Giuseppe Meazza against Inter, they finished 4th in the group.
Dynamo needed to invest a lot to keep up with Ukraine’s other big spending club Shakhtar Donetsk and this makes them stronger than they were in their recent campaigns with the likes of Taye Taiwo (Milan), Miguel Veloso (Genoa), Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham) or Marco Ruben (Villareal) all joining them this summer.
Dynamo recorded an impressive away victory against Monchengladbach (1-3) in the play-offs of the competition after eliminating Feyenoord in the third qualifying round.
The Ukrainian side has no injury concerns, and have a couple of players fresh after resting them at the weekend.
The betting verdict
PSG looks good on paper and despite needing more time to be competitive at this level they were lucky to be drawn in a let’s say accessible group against Dynamo Kyiv, Dinamo Zagreb and Porto.
However, the games need to be won on the pitch and Dynamo could be a tricky opponent that could ruin PSG's return to the Champions League if they’ll be given the chance.
On the other hand Dynamo Kyiv cannot be proud with their away record in the competition, they’ve failed to win 26 out of their last 28 games. In my opinion the best they can hope for is a draw, but they might be good for a goal here.
PSG may not have experience in UCL as a club, but there are plenty of players in the squad that have played important games in the competition.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
PSG 2-1 Dynamo
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Both teams to score at 2.00 at Bet365Confidence: 7/10
