“Slam the door loudly at the end": where to watch the final round of the Europa League match between Dynamo and RFC, bookmakers' favorite, last minute preparations
Kyiv • UNN
Today at 22:00, Dynamo will play against Latvian side RFS in the final round of the Europa League. The match will take place in Hamburg, and Kyiv will try to win their first victory in the tournament.
Today, January 30, at 22:00 Kyiv time in Hamburg, Germany, at the Volksparkstadion stadium, Dynamo Kyiv will meet RFS Riga in the final 8th round of the Europa League group stage. UNN tells you where to watch the match, who is the bookmakers' favorite, and the latest news from the teams' camps.
Stadium, referee team, broadcast
The match will be officiated by a team of referees from Israel, led by 43-year-old Orel Greenfeld. Greenfeld is very well known to Ukrainian fans. In particular, this season he worked the match of the 4th round of the Champions League group stage between Shakhtar and Young Boys, in which Donetsk won 2-1. In October 2022, he recorded a 1-1 draw between Shakhtar and Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage.
He also refereed Dynamo's match against AZ in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League qualifiers, when Kyiv won 2-1. In the fall of 2016, he served the match between Zorya and Manchester United (0: 1), and in the same year he worked at the match between Vorskla and Lokomotiv (2: 3) in the Europa League qualifiers.
It is already known that Dynamo will play in their basic white kit. Dynamo's goalkeeper will wear yellow. The visitors will play in a black kit, while the goalkeeper will wear a dark green one.
Bookmakers favor Dynamo, whose victory can be bet on at odds of 1.89. RF Shakhtar's victory is given at odds of 4.15. You can bet on a draw with odds of 3.7.
The match will be shown live on Megogo.
Previous fights, opponent's introduction
In the last round, Dynamo Kyiv snatched a 3-3 draw against Turkish Galatasaray, losing 3-1 during the match. However, this draw did not allow Oleksandr Shovkovsky's team to move up from the last place in the standings.
“RFS was founded on May 19, 2005. Throughout its history, it has become the champion of Latvia (2021, 2023, 2024), silver medalist (2019, 2020), bronze medalist (2018, 2022); winner of the Latvian Cup (2019, 2021, 2024), winner of the Major League Cup (2017, 2018).
“With 5 points, RFSH is in 30th place, having 1 win, two draws and 4 defeats. By the way, in the 7th round of the Europa League, RFSH created a sensation by narrowly beating the Dutch Ajax at home - 1: 0.
The head coach is 44-year-old Latvian specialist Viktor Moroz. The general director of the team is Maris Verpakovskis, who is familiar to Dynamo Kyiv fans and played as a forward for Kyiv for 8 years - from 2003 to 2011.
Before the match, Verpakovskis said that he always meets with former clubs, including Dynamo Kyiv.
I spent so much time there and got to know a lot of people. The current Dynamo coaching staff consists almost entirely of my former teammates. I met with several representatives of the White and Blues before the Europa League draw, and we said back then that it would be interesting if our clubs played each other. Unfortunately, we will not be able to play this game in Kyiv. The situation is like this because of the war. However, we have already played friendly matches with each other, and it is nice that now we will be able to meet in an official high-level game,
He compared Dynamo during his time at the club with the current one.
What is the difference between that Dynamo and the current one? Of course, they are completely different teams in terms of composition, but that's not the point. We must admit that the current Dynamo is not what it was 10-15 years ago. It is difficult to invite strong legionnaires who came before, and the financial situation is no longer the same. Reading the Ukrainian press, I see predictions that after the war Dynamo will return to its previous level. Now we see that everything is difficult in European competitions. In the Ukrainian league, they have started this season very well, with an advantage over Shakhtar, who are doing well in the Champions League. Dynamo Kyiv is a big brand in Ukraine. As I see in the Ukrainian media, they are also under a lot of pressure for their results in the Europa League. The Kyiv team was given an almost specific task - to beat us, RFS, in the last game in order not to be the last in the standings. And now it so happened that Dynamo can no longer overtake us in the table, even theoretically
He also shared his opinion on who he sees the current Dynamo coach as after his career.
I've seen him more outside of football: as a politician, TV presenter, something like that. Sasha is doing well. Fans may be unhappy with the Europa League, but there are objective reasons. The war, finances, lack of quality legionnaires. If Sasha wins the championship for Dynamo, there should be no questions to him at all. As a former Dynamo player and fan, I believe he will succeed,
Before the match
On the eve of the match, Kyiv coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi told us what he expects before the upcoming match. In particular, according to him, Denys Popov, Vitalii Buyalskyi, Mykola Shaparenko, Volodymyr Brazhko and Vladyslav Dubinchak will not play in the match.
Yes, we have personnel problems. Unfortunately, they are not very pleasant - we cannot count on several players who are in contention for the main squad. This does not add to our points. But we have a team, and we are preparing for the upcoming game
Yesterday, on January 29, it became known that the goalkeeper of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team, Heorhiy Bushchan, left the capital's team after 16 years. The goalkeeper signed a 2.5-year contract with Al-Shabab in Arabia.
Dynamo goalkeeper Bushchan moves to Al-Shabab in Arabia29.01.25, 20:05 • 27728 views
Most likely, 23-year-old Ruslan Neshcheret, who played in the previous match against Galatasaray, will take the place in goal.
Shovkovskyi also told us how he motivates the team for the last match in the Europa League, given that you no longer have tournament tasks.
We frankly failed this tournament, objectively speaking. I told the guys that in every game they have to prove, first of all, that this set of circumstances was an accident. We have our own face, we can change under certain circumstances, but the desire, internal motivation of the team, as well as the motivation of each player individually, must be at the highest level. This game does not matter from a tournament point of view, but from the point of view of the image, it is of great fundamental importance,
Before the match, Kyiv vice-captain Andriy Yarmolenko said that Kyiv needed to win today.
I hope so. Because for me personally, as a footballer, playing official games is much better than friendly matches. I guess we need to be honest with the fans and tell them the truth, that we failed in the Europa League, we didn't achieve a result, so now we have this situation. We need to go out tomorrow and play for the honor of the club, as Dynamo cannot go through the European Cup tournament without a single victory,
RFSH coach Viktor Moroz said he would be happy to play against such a legendary club as Dynamo Kyiv, and in such a high-profile tournament as the Europa League.
It is very important for us to hold matches of this level. So I can only say the warmest words about our opponent and about such matches in general. We are very happy to be here. We realize that we will face a very serious team. We always analyze our opponents in the most serious way. And Dynamo Kyiv is no exception. A year ago we played against Dynamo in Turkey during the off-season training. Many players who are now in the Dynamo and RFS squads took part in that sparring match. The other day I watched that match: I wanted to understand how our opponent has changed since then, how we need to play against him now,
What to expect?
It should be noted that the teams had previously met only in friendly matches during the pre-season training camp. In the winter of 2022, the White and Blues won 2-1 (goals by Vladyslav Vanat and Mykola Shaparenko), and last winter, Dynamo minimally defeated the opponent thanks to Shaparenko's only goal from the penalty spot.
Both teams no longer have tournament ambitions, because even if RFSH wins, they still won't qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League playoffs. Kyiv, who have also been eliminated from the tournament, will try to win at least one victory in the tournament to finish on a high note.