Kyiv in Partizan rage as Rangers Champions League opponents’ clash turns ugly before a ball has been kicked

Dynamo Kyiv will refuse to take part in any of the usual pre-match formalities when they take on Partizan Belgrade in their Champions League second round qualifier.

The pair go head to head in the first leg of their qualifier this evening in Poland with Rangers awaiting the winners in the next round. But the usual UEFA rituals before the game won't be adhered to by the Ukrainians as a result of Partizan heading to Russia for a pre-season tournament. The Kyiv club have slammed the move given the Russian invasion of their country, which prompted UEFA to ban all Russian clubs from their international competitions They view Partizan's call to make the trip there as one that is not "friendly" and as a result, will be swerving ceremonial duties befire kick-off, which boss Oleksandr Shovkovskyi confirmed in a statement.

It read: "We, to put it mildly, misunderstood the trip of the Partizan football club to Moscow for the friendly Brotherhood tournament, where they played a series of matches against local clubs and expressed signs of solidarity with those who are waging an aggressive and mysterious war against us. Occupying our lands, destroying our cities, killing and maiming our people and children.

"Especially, despite UEFA's clear decision to exclude Russian clubs from all international competitions under its auspices, which was adopted immediately after the full scale aggression of Russia, we specifically did not make any public statements on this matter, in order not to incite enmity before the match.

"However, taking into account all the above-mentioned circumstances, we are forced to refuse all official events. Our decision is based solely on the actions of the football club Partizan Belgrade, which went to this