Dnipro enters their Thursday match against FC Basel in a must-win situation, as the club dropped the first leg 2-0 and must play better to advance. Dnipro will host at Dnipro Arena in Ukraine in their last-32 return meeting and the club will not take anything for granted.
Coach Juande Ramos is heading towards some history if Dnipro can pull through, as he is trying to become just the second manager to win the Europa League three times. The club will have some tough history to fight, as they usually have this time as a break during the winter and have dropped matches in the last eight attempts.
Dnipro sits at the top of the Europa League table with 15 points, while FC Basel is second in the Super League with 39 points in 20 matches played. Ramos has already won the competition twice with Sevilla and he will be looking to add Dnipro to that list. Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni has also done it, winning the title three times with Juventus twice and also Inter Milan.
"The first leg was a bad scoreline for us but there is still hope," said Dnipro midfielder Ruslan Rotan to ESPN.com. "I think we can handle it. We have to believe we can do it. We have to forget what happened in the first leg."
Dnipro has had success scoring this season apart from the last game and scored 16 goals in their six group matches, the top number of any club in the competition. The club has won five straight Euro home games, including wins over PSV Eindhoven, Napoli and 2010 Europa League finalists Fulham.
Dnipro will have a slight advantage due to injury, as Basle captain Marco Strelle will be out with a knee injury. He scored a goal in the first leg match, but he was injured against Lausanne in a 2-1 win on Sunday in league play. The team will likely use veteran Alexander Frei, who is planning to retire at the end of the season.
Frei, who is the Swiss national goal leader with 42 goals, will be a focus for the team as they try to take the victory. Evgeni Konoplienka and three other players top Dnipro with three goals, while Victor Giuliano is tops in assists. Marco Streller is leading Basel with four goals, while Mohamed Salah is tops in assists.
In the first leg, Valentin Stocker scored in the first half and Marco Streller added a second goal to give the club a big life heading into the second match. The club was able to qualify after wins over Videoton and Sporting Lisbon and now are in prime position to advance.
Dnipro previously advanced over Napoli and PSV previously and the club enters the game after winning their first round final over AIK 4-0 in December, which was their last match prior to the Basel defeat.
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