In the second qualifying round, the white-and-blue advanced past Turkish "Fenerbahçe," securing a victory in Istanbul after extra time. Following this, "Dynamo" traveled to Liverpool, where they played a charity match against Vitaliy Mykolenko's Everton. Soon after, Kyivites arrived in Łódź to face the Austrian vice-champions in the Champions League qualifier. As a reminder, due to Russia’s military invasion, Mircea Lucescu's wards are forced to play their UEFA home matches in this Polish city.

Recently, "Dynamo" parted ways with Slovenian Verbitskiy, so his place in the starting lineup was taken by Shepelev. During warm-up before the match, Tsygankov sustained an injury, thus Karavaev appeared on the right wing of attack.

After a cautious start, "Sturm" began to create chances. Bushchan had to save shots from Prass and Goylund; at the 24th minute, Austrians created another goal-scoring opportunity, but Goylund missed from close range.

Photo sksturm.at

Despite this, "Dynamo" soon opened the scoring, and for the second consecutive Champions League match, Karavaev scored. Dubynchak delivered from the left flank; Besedin failed to reach it, while Oleksandr hit the far corner accurately. After scoring, Kyivites had an advantage on the field and launched several good attacks, but hosts lacked a final touch.

After halftime, Besedin had a chance when Karavaev passed him the ball, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. Later, Sidorchuk and Shaparenko attempted long-range shots without success. On the 73rd minute, Besedin headed in Shaparenko's cross — the ball went over the bar. In summary, Kyivites held on to their minimal lead and won — 1:0.

Players who participated in the match included those from "Dynamo" who were part of Ukraine’s national team roster for June matches: Bushchan, Zabarnyi, Popov (yellow card), Sidorchuk, Shaparenko, Karavaev (goal).

Champions League-2022/2023. Third qualifying round. First leg

"Dynamo" (Ukraine) — "Sturm" (Austria) — 1:0 (1:0)

Goal: Karavaev (28).

"Dynamo": Bushchan, Kendziora, Zabarnyi, Popov, Dubynchak (Vivcharenko, 71), Sidorchuk (c), Shepelev (Garmash, 71), Shaparenko, Karavaev, Buialskyi, Besedin (Vanat, 83).

Substitutes: Neischeret, Boyko, Bol, Yatsyk, Andriyevskiy, Kravchenko, Timchik, Syrota.

Coach: Mircea Lucescu.

"Sturm": Zibenhendler, Gazibegovic, Affengruber, Vutrich (Schneeg, 68), Dante (Girlander, c) (Lubich, 68), Stanovitch, Hirlender (c) (Demakou, 78), Prass (Demaque, 78), Horvat, Sarkariya, Goylund (Lang, 90).

Substitutes: Schuetzenauer, Juliani, Borovic, Oroz, Kronberger, Ingolic, Fouseini, Velc.

Referee: Francois Letexier (France).

Yellow cards: Popov (21), Shepelev (48) — Vutrich (16), Stanovitch (42), Hirlender (46).

August 3. Łódź. LK Arena.

The return match will take place in Graz on Tuesday, August 9 (kick-off at 21:30 Kyiv time).