Dan Petrescu finally got his Dynamo Moscow stewardship off the mark with a dramatic 3-2 win against city rivals Lokomotiv Moscow on Saturday and will need the same levels of commitment from his players to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Stuttgart in the Europa League on Tuesday (Dynamo Moscow 8/5 draw 11/5 Stuttgart 7/5 – 90 minutes).
The 44-year-old signed a three-year contract with the capital club after resigning from his post at Premier League rivals FC Kuban Krasnodar and guided the White and Blues to a first win in six thanks to a Christian Noboa winner.
His predecessor Silkin had stood down on August 6 after Dynamo’s 4-0 home defeat by FC Spartak Moskva
A 2-0 defeat against Rubin Kazan followed and Dynamo’s plight took a turn for the worse when they fell to a bad-tempered 2-1 home defeat by Terek Grozny in which Vladimir Rykov and Kevin Kuranyi were both sent off.
Dynamo held on for 72 minutes before a Vedad Ibizevic brace secured Bundesliga side Stuttgart a 2-0 win at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Germany last Wednesday but Petrescu may feel he now has the dressing-room on-side.
Bruno Labbadia may have felt Stuttgart were past the post ahead of the trip to Russia but a stoppage-time defeat by Wolfsburg on the opening day of the new German domestic season on Saturday will have given him food for thought.
Summer signing Ibizevic from Hoffenheim remains key to their chances of progressing in Europe and the approach to this return leg from Labbadia will be intriguing.
Does he try kill the game or protect what he has?
The Reds were knocked out of the Europa League last season by Benfica but are regulars in this competition and history suggests they can be relied on to find the net on their travels (the last time they failed to score on the road in Europe was against Sevilla in 2008).
Dynamo will have a slight edge in terms of match sharpness but defensively they cannot be trusted and a lack of goals at the other end means it would require Stuttgart to collapse in spectacular style to not go through.
The ‘over 2.5 goals‘ and ‘both teams to score‘ projects appeal given that Dynamo have to chase this game but it is difficult to envisage Stuttgart flopping.
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