Dynamo chase miracle at Maccabi Tel-Aviv

FC Dynamo Kyiv need a win and a goal difference landslide against Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC to take second place in UEFA Europa League Group E. • Three points adrift of Be?ikta? JK, with an identical head-to-head record, the Ukrainian team will finish level on points with the Black Eagles if they beat Maccabi and Be?ikta? lose at home against Stoke City FC. However, if they are to take second place, they will need to overturn the Istanbul side's goal difference advantage of four. Previous meetings • Dor Mikha's brilliant solo strike (44) cancelled out Ideye Brown's ninth-minute opener when the sides met on matchday two, with Dynamo goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy saving his side a point with an impressive second-half performance. • Only five UEFA club games have been played between the two countries, with the Israeli teams leading 3-1 in victories. Match background • Dynamo are unbeaten in three European home games (two wins and a draw) since a 2-0 loss to FC Rubin Kazan in this season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. • The Ukrainian club are undefeated in 16 home fixtures in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League (seven wins and nine draws) since a 3-0 loss against RSC Anderlecht on 4 November 1992. • Maccabi Tel-Aviv are on a three-game losing streak in Group E, and have also lost their last three European away fixtures since winning 2-0 at FK Željezni?ar in this season's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. • Overall Maccabi have gone six matches without a win in Europe – a draw and five defeats – since their 3-0 home win over Panathinaikos FC in the play-offs. Team facts • Brown has been caught offside ten times, along with NK Marior's Dalibor Volaš, the most in the group stage. • Once a midfielder and forward, the vastly experienced Yuri Semin is in his second spell as Dynamo coach, having won the 2008/09 Ukrainian title in his first stint when he also led the club to the UEFA Cup semi-finals. He made his name in his native Russia with FC Lokomotiv Moskva, winning titles in 2002 and 2004. • Maccabi parted company with coach Motti Iwanir on 5 December, after a run of four straight league defeats. The 47-year-old coach said: "Coaching Maccabi Tel-Aviv was a childhood dream of mine. I enjoyed working at the club and wish it all the best." • Nir Levin has been placed in temporary command following Iwanir's departure. The former Israel striker has coached the club twice before, winning two State Cups, and had been working as director of the club's youth department.