[RTL Voetbal] PSV - Dinamo Zagreb & AZ - Shakter #1

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PSV Eindhoven will look to atone for a shock defeat in their last UEFA Europa League Group B home game when GNK Dinamo Zagreb come to the Netherlands on matchday four.

PSV Eindhoven can put an end to GNK Dinamo Zagreb's hopes of progressing from UEFA Europa League Group B when the sides meet for the second time in a fortnight.

Previous meetings
• Dinamo had the bulk of the chances as the teams crossed paths for the first time on matchday three, but while a 0-0 draw gave them their first Group B point, Dinamo will need to at least match that result if they are to have a chance of taking one of the top spots in the section.

• PSV's only previous Croatian experience came when they met HNK Hajduk Split in the 1975/76 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals; they lost 2-0 in Split but prevailed 3-0 after extra time in the return fixture in Eindhoven.

• Dinamo's record in 11 games against Dutch clubs – eight of them versus AFC Ajax – is W3 D3 L5 (W1 D3 L3 in Zagreb – W2 D0 L2 in the Netherlands). Their last two visits to the Netherlands ended in defeats against Ajax.

Match background
• PSV are the only side to have competed in every edition of the UEFA Europa League group stage since the competition's inception in 2009/10, missing out on the round of 32 for the first time last season when they finished behind FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and SSC Napoli in Group F.

• PSV have won only one of their last five European home games, and kicked off the group stage with a shock 2-0 loss to Bulgarian champions PFC Ludogorets Razgrad.

• Dinamo have yet to make it through the group stage of this competition in five attempts. They kicked off Group B with a 2-1 home loss to FC Chornomorets Odesa and were then beaten 3-0 at Ludogorets on matchday two.

• Dinamo have lost their last eight away games in UEFA group stage competition since a 2-0 win at Club Brugge KV in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League. The aggregate score against them in those fixtures was 27-2, meaning they conceded an average of over three goals a game.

Team facts
• PSV forward Jürgen Locadia celebrates his 20th birthday on the day of the Dinamo match.

• PSV's draw in Zagreb was their 39th UEFA Europa League game, with that total breaking the appearance record held by two-time winners Club Atlético de Madrid and Sporting Clube de Portugal. PSV have also scored more UEFA Europa League goals than any side since the advent of the new competition, 62.

• Dinamo are one of nine domestic champions in the group stage along with Group B rivals Ludogorets (Bulgaria), NK Maribor (Slovenia), FC Sheriff (Moldova), Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (Israel), Legia Warszawa (Poland), FC Shakhter Karagandy (Kazakhstan), APOEL FC (Cyprus) and IF Elfsborg (Sweden).

• PSV are one of five clubs in this season's group stage to have won this competition before (1978), along with Valencia CF (2004), Eintracht Frankfurt (1980) and two-time winners Sevilla FC (2006, 2007) and Tottenham Hotspur FC (1972, 1984). PSV are the only side involved on matchday four to have also won the European Champion Clubs' Cup, in 1988.

Coach information
• Hired in summer 2013 to coach the club he served so successfully as a player, Phillip Cocu had spent several years preparing, working with the senior national team and PSV's youth sides and briefly taking caretaker command of the PSV first XI in 2012. Capped 101 times by the Netherlands, he won four Dutch titles with PSV either side of a lengthy spell at FC Barcelona, peaking with the 1998/99 Liga triumph.

• Dinamo brought an end to Branko Ivanković's third spell as the club's coach ahead of matchday three, with his side having lost four of his eight games since he took charge in September.

• Sporting director Zoran Mamić has been put in charge for the remainder of the year, with Damir Krznar and Igor Cvitanović working as his assistants. Capped six times as a defender and defensive midfielder, he started and ended his playing career at Dinamo either side of a long spell in Germany, where he represented the likes of VfL Bochum 1848 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

http://www.uefa.com/uefae(...)ackground/index.html

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AZ Alkmaar can keep up the pressure for one of the top spots in UEFA Europa League Group L as FC Shakhter Karagandy make a 4,600km journey on matchday four.

Although AZ Alkmaar remain unbeaten in UEFA Europa League Group L, FC Shakhter Karagandy are hoping that the longest journey in the history of UEFA group stage football ends with them taking all three points.

Previous meetings
• Shakhter's first meeting with Dutch opponents produced a 1-1 draw on matchday three; Andrei Finonchenko put the home side in front, before Johann Gudmundsson replied for AZ.

• AZ met Shakhter's Kazakh league rivals FC Aktobe in the 2010/11 UEFA Cup play-offs, winning 2-0 at home and progressing despite a 2-1 defeat in Kazakhstan.

• The journey from Alkmaar to Aktobe is around 3,600km. To get to the matchday three game, staged in Astana, AZ had to travel over 4,400km – further than any team has ever travelled for a UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group stage fixture. Shakhter, however, are breaking that record on matchday four – Karaganda is just shy of 4,600km from Alkmaar.

Match background
• AZ are appearing in this group stage for the seventh time; losing UEFA Cup finalists in 1980/81, they made it through to the semi-finals after coming through the inaugural UEFA Cup group stage in 2004/05. In total, they have qualified for the knockout phase four times.

• AZ are without a win in their last three continental home fixtures, though they ended a run of back-to-back defeats with a 1-1 draw against PAOK FC on matchday two.

• Shakhter came within 90 minutes of reaching the UEFA Champions League group stage only to let slip a 2-0 first-leg advantage in the play-offs at Celtic FC. They nonetheless received the substantial consolation prize of a first UEFA Europa League group stage campaign.

• Shakhter have lost their last three European away games.

Team facts
• Shakhter are the first Kazakh side to have reached a UEFA club competition group stage, and the most easterly club to have reached this far in a UEFA club tournament.

• The distance between Shakhter's home town and that of the most westerly group stage contenders, Estoril Praia, is 6,358km – around one sixth the circumference of earth.

• Shakhter are one of nine domestic champions appearing in this season's group stage while AZ are one of the 11 domestic cup holders in the competition.

• New AZ boss Dick Advocaat is one of four coaches in the group stage to have had his hands on the trophy before. PAOK's Huub Stevens, who won it as a player (PSV Eindhoven, 1978) and a coach (FC Schalke 04, 1997), FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk's coach Juande Ramos (Sevilla FC, 2006 & 2007) and Tottenham Hotspur FC manager André Villas-Boas (FC Porto, 2011) are the others.

Coach information
• AZ dismissed coach Gertjan Verbeek ahead of matchday two. He had been in charge since 2010, and led the club to Dutch Cup success last season.

• Dick Advocaat was named as AZ's new coach on 16 October, returning to the club where he had spent five months in charge at the end of the 2009/10 season. Twice Netherlands coach, the 66-year-old won the 2007/08 UEFA Cup with FC Zenit, as well as national titles with PSV Einhdhoven (1997/98), Rangers FC (1998/99, 1999/2000) and Zenit (2007).

• A Kazakh title winner in his first two seasons with Shakhter, 2011 and 2012, Russian-born Viktor Kumykov had his career as a goalkeeper cut short by injury when he was 24. He turned to coaching and led home-town club PFC Spartak Nalchik in Russia before embarking on a series of roles in Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan. Visiting museums is one of his favourite pastimes.

http://www.uefa.com/uefae(...)ackground/index.html

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Tegenstander AZ reist met B-team van veertien spelers af naar Alkmaar

Shakhter Karagandy is met een uitgedunde selectie van slechts veertien spelers naar Nederland gereisd voor het Europa League-duel met AZ. De club uit Kazachstan staat zondag in de strijd om de nationale beker en vindt die wedstrijd belangrijker dan de Europese ontmoeting met de Alkmaarders.

Zodoende heeft de technische staf van Shakhter besloten om een groot aantal basisspelers thuis te laten, zodat zij zich optimaal kunnen voorbereiden op de cruciale ontmoeting van komend weekend. Die wedstrijd is voor het team van coach Viktor Kumykov de enige mogelijkheid om een ticket voor Europees voetbal veilig te stellen. In de competitie eindigde zijn team als vierde.

De maatregel houdt in dat Shakhter donderdagavond nauwelijks in staat is om drie fatsoenlijke wissels door te voeren. Twee van de veertien spelers zijn namelijk doelman. Mocht AZ de wedstrijd tegen het B-team winnen én wint PAOK Saloniki van Maccabi Haifa, dan zijn Dick Advocaat en zijn manschappen zeker van overwintering in Europa.

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Op woensdag 6 november 2013 14:55 schreef Cavaliers het volgende:
De beker van Kazachstan belangrijker dan de Europa League. Tsjah...