FC BATE Borisov - Real Madrid CF MATCH PRESS KIT Dinamo, Minsk Tuesday 25 November 2008 - 20.45CET Group H - Matchday 5
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FC BATE Borisov - Real Madrid CF MATCH PRESS KIT Dinamo, Minsk Tuesday 25 November 2008 - 20.45CET Group H - Matchday 5 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background Home-and-away defeats against Juventus have jolted Real Madrid CF's confidence in their UEFA Champions League campaign but they still lie in second place in Group H and will be hoping to get back on an even keel when they travel to face FC BATE Borisov, who lie at the foot of the section with just two points. • While BATE were denied in their quest for a first UEFA Champions League victory when they lost at home to FC Zenit St. Petersburg on Matchday 4, Madrid's hopes of gaining revenge on Juventus also came unstuck on home soil. Having gone down to the Italian giants two weeks previously, Los Merengues knew they would have their work cut out in the return but it was still a huge disappointment to be on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat. A superb goal in each half from Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero secured a place in the first knockout round for the Turin side with two matches to spare. • For the Spanish champions it was the first time they had lost successive group games since 1999/00. On that occasion Madrid lost 4-2 at home and 4-1 away against FC Bayern München in the second group stage – although they went on to finish second in Group C and ultimately lifted the trophy. • This time round Madrid can follow Juve into the next stage should they win in Belarus and the Italian side avoid defeat away to Zenit. For BATE the situation is clear: they must win or their slim qualifying chances will end. • When the teams met on Matchday 1 at the Santiago Bernabéu, Sergio Ramos and Ruud van Nistelrooy were on the scoresheet as Madrid ran out 2-0 winners. On their debut in the competition, Viktor Goncharenko's team did not offer a huge threat and were hampered by the 62nd-minute dismissal of Anri Khagush for a second yellow card, although they already trailed 2-0 by that point. • After that BATE forged 2-0 ahead against Juventus with goals from Sergei Kryvets and Igor Stasevich in the opening 23 minutes on Matchday 2, but eventually had to settle for a 2-2 draw. • At least holding the 1996 UEFA Champions League winners to a draw gave the team, who last month became only the second Belarussian club to win five Vysshaya Liga titles, encouragement for the double-header with Zenit. In the first game in St Petersburg, BATE were ten minutes away from securing that elusive first victory after substitute Pavel Nekhaychik had applied a cool finish but Fatih Tekke evaded the BATE offside trap to fire past Sergei Veremko and earn Zenit a point. Last updated 23.11.2008 23:21:23CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 FC BATE Borisov - Real Madrid CF Tuesday 25 November 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Dinamo, Minsk • BATE hoped the maiden UEFA Champions League success would come in the home game with Zenit two weeks later but instead it was the visitors who reached that landmark. Pavel Pogrebnyak ended his goal drought to put the visitors on their way and although they lost Sébastien Puygrenier to a red card midway through the second half, Danny sealed the 2-0 win four minutes into stoppage time. • Before the game on 17 September, the Madrid club had never previously faced opposition from Belarus in a competitive fixture, while BATE had met a Spanish team just once previously. That came in last season's UEFA Cup first round when they took on Villarreal CF, losing 2-0 at home having already gone down 4-1 in the away leg. • On Matchday 2 Madrid won 2-1 at Zenit after an own goal by Tomáš Hubočan put them in front. After Danny had levelled, the nine-time European champions got their noses in front again as Van Nistelrooy took advantage of more defensive uncertainty to secure the points. • They followed that with the away game against Juventus when Del Piero was on the scoresheet again. Amauri made it 2-0 and while Van Nistelrooy's 66th-minute header cut the arrears that was as good as it got for Bernd Schuster's team. Match facts BATE UEFA milestones • Sergei Kryvets's goal against Juventus on Matchday 2 was BATE's first in the UEFA Champions League proper. UEFA Champions League statistics • Five BATE players have appeared in all ten games, including qualifying: Vladimir Rzhevski, Aleksandr Yurevich, Dmitri Likhtarovich, Kryvets and Pavel Nekhaychik. • Gennadi Bliznyuk's goal in the second qualifying round second leg against RSC Anderlecht was his tenth in UEFA club competition, equalling the record of Georgi Kondratyev for the most European goals scored by a Belarussian. It was Bliznyuk's seventh goal in UEFA Champions League qualifying as well – also a national record. • Likhtarovich has now played 44 matches in UEFA competition for Belarussian clubs, another record. BATE assistant coaches Vadim Skripchenko (30 games) and Aleksandr Fedorovich (28) are third and fourth on the list respectively. FC Barcelona's Aleksandr Hleb is the Belarussian with most appearances in UEFA club competition having featured 65 times. • BATE have been caught offside only five times, fewer than any other team. Disciplinary information • BATE have no players suspended or within a booking of a ban. Latest domestic information • Thursday 20 November: FC Minsk 1-4 FC BATE Borisov (agg: 4-4, BATE won 4-3 on penalties) (Khachaturyan 87; Rodionov 45, Kryvets 72, 75, Bliznyuk 90) BATE overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit in thrilling fashion to progress to the Belarussian Cup quarter-finals. Vitali Rodionov set the visitors on their way in Minsk and they had levelled the aggregate scoreline with 15 minutes left thanks to two Kryvets goals. Anri Khagush's 85th-minute dismissal for two bookable offences turned the tide, however, and Andrei Khachaturyan quickly made matters worse for BATE. Yet a last-gasp Bliznyuk free-kick forced extra time and then penalties, where Aleksandr Gutor came to the fore, saving two of Minsk's spot-kicks to secure victory. • "I'm obviously happy with the outcome," said BATE coach Viktor Goncharenko. "We can use this positive result as a platform for our match against Real Madrid." • Following their 2-0 home defeat by FC Zenit St. Petersburg on Matchday 4, BATE suffered more disappointment on their return to domestic action as their 27-match unbeaten league run ended with a 2-1 reverse at FC Dinamo Minsk on 9 November. Once Sergei Gigevich (6) and Aleksandr Lebedev (43) put the hosts in charge, there was no way back for newly crowned Vysshaya Liga champions BATE, with Rodionov's 90th-minute header merely a consolation. • BATE's club-record sequence of 27 league games without defeat consisted of 18 wins and stretched back to the final day of the 2007 campaign when Minsk triumphed 2-1 in Borisov. Last updated 23.11.2008 23:21:23CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 FC BATE Borisov - Real Madrid CF Tuesday 25 November 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Dinamo, Minsk • There was some good news for BATE, as captain Aleksandr Ermakovich came on after the interval for his first competitive appearance since September when he aggravated a knee injury. • "I probably should have made more changes to the starting XI," said Goncharenko. "The players looked tired and it was hard to watch at times. However, we do not have adequate replacements for all positions. Of course, it is a pity to lose our unbeaten run. Dinamo are our main rivals in Belarus but we still lacked motivation." • BATE picked themselves up three days later as Mikhail Sivakov's 36th-minute penalty earned an experimental side three Vysshaya Liga points at FC Savit Mogilev. With Nekhaychik the sole survivor from the starting XI that lost to Zenit, Valentin Radevich hit the post after only 28 seconds before Sivakov struck following a foul on Vitali Kazantsev. • The Vysshaya Liga drew to a close on 16 November with BATE signing off with a 1-1 draw at home to FC Vitebsk. Rodionov's header (67) was cancelled out by Ruslan Usov deep into added time. • "We have had a fine season," said Goncharenko. "I have nothing to complain about. We won all the key fixtures when we had to win. I am worried about the number of late goals we are conceding though – in added time today, and before that in the game against Zenit." • Rodionov and Bliznyuk topped the Vysshaya Liga scoring chart with 16 goals apiece. Bliznyuk fell two short of his 2007 haul while Rodionov surpassed his by a solitary strike. • Maksim Zhavnerchik has not appeared for the Belarussian titleholders since their first-night defeat by Real Madrid CF and was removed from the squad prior to the draw with Juventus on 30 September. "I consider him one of BATE's most promising players," said Goncharenko. "Unfortunately, he doesn't have the desire to develop his game.