Soccer team Dynamo Kyiv has failed to defeat Belgian Brugge in a home game during the third qualifying round for the 2019–2020 Champions League. As a result, the team will not make it to the top-tier championship for European soccer clubs.
The Aug. 13 match in Kyiv ended with the teams drawing 3–3. But a week ago, Brugge led 1–0 the first-leg, meaning that Dynamo would have needed to score at least two goals more than its Belgian opponent to advance after the match in Ukraine.
After elimination from the Champions League, Dynamo fired its coach, Oleksandr Khatskevych. He has led the team since June 2017. During his tenure, the team failed to win a single Ukrainian champion and never qualified for the main round of the Champions League.
The Kyiv match began dynamically, with midfielder Vitaliy Buyalskyi scoring a goal for Dynamo at the sixth minute of the game. After that, both teams played more cautiously, making occasional and usually clumsy tackles.
At the end of the first half, however, Brugge equalized as its center back Simon Deli scored a goal.
After that, Brugge took control of the game and spent most of the remaining time possessing the ball. Virtually all 42,000 spectators at the Dynamo Kyiv’s home Olimpiysky Stadium booed Brugge player every time they approached Dynamo’s penalty box.
The second half of the match began under flashes of lighting, thunder and heavy rain, which made the pitch muddy and slick.
Nevertheless, midfielder Volodymyr Shepelev scored another goal for Dynamo five minutes into the second half, giving hope to Dynamo fans. But Brugge fought back, barely letting Dynamo onto their half of the pitch. And eventually, midfielder Ruud Vormer scored another goal for Brugge, making it 2–2.
The referee assigned six extra minutes and both teams went on the attack. Dynamo had a bit of luck: Brugge center back Brandon Mechele accidentally knocked the ball into his own team’s goal. Dynamo needed to score just one more time to win, but it failed.
Instead, Brugge striker Lois Openda made it 3–3 during the final minutes of the game.
The match ended in a draw, thereby eliminating Dynamo from the Champions League, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world.
