Middlesbrough FC V FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk PRESS KIT
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Middlesbrough FC v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk PRESS KIT Riverside, Middlesbrough Thursday, 3 November 2005 - 20:03 local time Group D - Matchday 2 Middlesbrough FC, boosted by a fine win in their opening UEFA Cup Group D match in Zurich against Grasshopper-Club, take on an FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk team who have a new coach and a change of emphasis. Middlesbrough overcame Grasshoppers thanks to an early Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink goal, while Dnipro lost 2-1 at home to last season's semi-finalists AZ Alkmaar on Matchday 1. •This will be the first time that either side has faced teams from their opponent's country. •Middlesbrough reached the last 16 of the UEFA Cup on their UEFA competition debut last season and have started the current European campaign in solid fashion with a win against Skoda Xanthi FC in the first round. The home performance paved the way in that tie, a 2-0 win thanks to goals from George Boateng and Mark Viduka and a goalless draw in the second game in Greece taking the English team through. •The only blemish in Middlesbrough's home record in Europe came last season in the Round of 16, after victories against FC Baník Ostrava, S.S. Lazio, FK Partizan and Grazer AK. Sporting Club de Portugal proved a tougher prospect, however, and raced into a three-goal lead at the Riverside stadium. Although late goals from Joseph Désiré Job and Chris Riggott brought the Teesside team back into that first leg, Sporting remained resolute in the return and progressed 4-2 overall thanks to a 1-0 win in Portugal. •Dnipro were unable to take anything from their home game with AZ despite a second- half rally in which defender Serhiy Matiukhin's reduced the Dutch visitors' two-goal lead. •The Ukrainian side, who made their debut in UEFA competition in the 1984/85 European Champion Clubs' Cup, have twice reached the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition - in that first season and again in 1989/90. Last season, Dnipro looked like repeating that feat in the UEFA Cup only to fall in the Round of 32, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Partizan after progressing through the group stage. •Dnipro, however, have already impressed on British soil this season. In the first round, the Ukrainian outfit were paired with Scottish Premier League side Hibernain FC and ground out a goalless draw in the first game in Edinburgh. The second leg was a completely different story, however, as goals from Serhiy Nazarenko, Bohdan Shershun, Oleh Shelayev and a late Olexandr Melashchenko double secured an impressive 5-1 victory. Team facts: Middlesbrough •Middlesbrough are making their second consecutive appearance in UEFA competition uefa.com 1/14 Middlesbrough FC v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk PRESS KIT having advanced to the Round of 16 in last season's UEFA Cup. •They are one of ten clubs featuring in the UEFA Cup group stage for the second consecutive season. The full list is: FC Steaua Bucuresti, Middlesbrough, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, AZ Alkmaar, FC Basel 1893, SC Heerenveen, VfB Stuttgart, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Beşiktaş JK and Sevilla FC. • Middlesbrough finished last season's English Premiership campaign in seventh position, thereby claiming the last qualifying berth for the 2005/06 UEFA Cup. • The English side entered the competition at the first round stage, defeating Xanthi FC 20 on aggregate with both goals coming in the opening leg at the Riverside stadium from George Boateng (28) and Mark Viduka (83). • Boro made their debut in UEFA competition only last season when overcoming Czech side FC Baník Ostrava 41 on aggregate in the first round of the competition to book their place in the group stage. • A confident start left Middlesbrough with six points from their first two outings – a 10 victory away to Greek side Egaleo FC thanks to Stewart Downing's 78thminute goal followed by a 20 home success at the expense of S.S. Lazio. On this occasion, Boudewijn Zenden stole the headlines with goals after 16 and 71 minutes. • Though Middlesbrough were defeated 20 in their third group engagement away to Villarreal CF, they bounced back and secured their place in the knockout stages with a 30 defeat of FK Partizan with goals from Szilárd Németh (10), JosephDesiré Job (22) and James Morrison (90). • Austrian side Grazer AK were Middlesbrough's opponents in the Round of 32 with the English side prevailing 43 on aggregate. A 22 draw in Graz with goals from Dutch duo Zenden (52) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (66) was followed by a 21 victory at home after Graz had taken the lead through Mario Bazina after eight minutes. Middlesbrough responded through Morrison (18) and Hasselbaink (60). • But eventual losing finalists Sporting Clube de Portugal proved an entirely different proposition. The Portuguese side raced into a threegoal lead at the Riverside stadium and though Job and Chris Riggott reduced the deficit late on, Sporting were able to hold on at the Estádio José Alvalade in the return, eventually winning 10 thanks to Pedro Barbosa's 89thminute winner. • Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's early goal ensured Middlesbrough got their 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage campaign off to a winning start as the English visitors held firm in the face of a determined effort from GrasshopperClub at the Hardturm stadium. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Middlesbrough had played 13 matches in UEFA competition. All of those matches have come in the UEFA Cup with the English side recording seven wins, three draws and three defeats with 19 goals scored and ten conceded. uefa.com 2/14 Middlesbrough FC v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk PRESS KIT Team facts: Dnipro • Dnipro are involved in UEFA competition for the fourth time in the past five seasons. • Initially as representatives of the Soviet Union, Dnipro made their debut in UEFA competition in the 1984/85 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round. Overall, this season marks their 12th participation in UEFA competition. • They are one of ten clubs featuring in the UEFA Cup group stage for the second consecutive season. The full list is: FC Steaua Bucuresti, Middlesbrough FC, Dnipro, AZ, FC Basel 1893, SC Heerenveen, VfB Stuttgart, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Beşiktaş JK and Sevilla FC. • Dnipro also advanced from the second qualifying round through the UEFA Cup group stage and on to the Round of 32 last season. FC Artmedia and Maccabi Haifa FC were defeated in order to clear their passage to the group stage where three victories in their opening three games, against Club Brugge KV, FC Utrecht and FK Austria Wien, proved enough to clinch the section. Dnipro lost their final group stage engagement away to Real Zaragoza. • Their reward was a Round of 32 tie against FK Partizan which ended in a 32 loss as Dnipro lost the second leg 10 at home after holding the SerboMontenegrin side to a 2 2 draw in the opening match in Belgrade. • Dnipro qualified for the 2005/06 UEFA Cup second qualifying round following their fourthplaced finish in last season's Ukrainian Premier League behind FC Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Metalurh Donetsk. • They won both legs against Armenian side FC Banants to record an 82 aggregate success, despite falling two goals behind in the opening leg in Yerevan. Both Sergei Kornilenko, Konstyantyn Balabanov and Oleg Shelayev ended the tie with two goals apiece. • The Ukrainian outfit then triumphed 51 on aggregate in the first round proper against Scottish side Hibernian FC. Having held Hibs to a scoreless draw in Edinburgh, Dnipro ran riot in the return leg with Oleksandr Melashchenko scoring twice. • But Dnipro found last season's UEFA Cup semifinalists AZ Alkmaar too good on the opening matchday of the 2005/06 group stage as strikes early in each half from Shota Arveladze (14) and Tarik Sektioui (52) earned a twogoal cushion before defender Serhiy Matiukhin (70) pulled one back for the Ukrainian outfit. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Dnipro had played 57 matches in UEFA competition. To date, the Ukrainian side have won 25 of those matches with 13 draws and 19 defeats. In total, 81 goals have been scored with 60 conceded. uefa.com 3/14 Middlesbrough FC v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk PRESS KIT All-time statistics Head-to-head record No matches have been played between the two clubs Home team's record versus clubs from the away team's country Home club has never played against clubs of the country of the away team Away team's record versus clubs from the home team's country Away club has never played against clubs of the country of the home team UEFA club competition record Middlesbrough FC Pld W D L GF GA European Champions Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Cup 13 7 3 3 19 10 UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Intertoto Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 13 7 3 3 19 10 FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Pld W D L GF GA European Champions Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League 12 5 3 4 15 13 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Cup 45 20 10 15 66 47 UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Intertoto Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 57 25 13 19 81 60 KEY: All-time statistics Comp.