Preview: Dinamo Minsk vs Braga - prediction, team news, lineups

Dinamo Minsk must reverse an unwanted trend at their nominal home of Stadion Beroe if they are to overturn a narrow deficit against Braga, as both sides meet for the second leg of their Conference League third qualifying round tie on Thursday.

The Belarusian outfit suffered a 1-0 defeat in last week's first leg in Portugal, leaving qualification a daunting task for a side that has struggled at the Beroe ground, where they have been forced to stage their home matches due to ongoing UEFA restrictions on clubs from Belarus.

Match preview

Dinamo Minsk were underdogs heading into last week's first leg at Braga, but fans of the Belarusian outfit would have held some belief in their side, having prevailed in their last two continental outings on the road.

However, the gulf in quality was reflected in the underlying statistics, with Alyaksandr Shahoyka's side managing just 27% possession and three attempts (one on target) compared to their opponent’s 12 (three at goal).

The decisive moment came on the cusp of half time when Ricardo Horta converted from the spot, meaning Dinamo Minsk continued their trend of losing at least one game in each of their three rounds in the Conference League qualifying this year.

The fact that all three losses have ended in 1-0 scorelines, including defeats in the previous phases to Sileks and Neftchi Baku, is particularly striking, but more concerning is that both of those defeats occurred at Stadion Beroe, meaning they have their work cut out for Thursday's comeback task.

Failure to overturn their deficit this midweek will see Dinamo Minsk miss out on the main stage of a European competition in back-to-back seasons following their league phase elimination in 2024-25, an outcome the Belarusian hosts will be looking to avoid.

Meanwhile, Braga are more regular on the continental front, and while the Minho club had to settle for the Conference League qualifiers after seven consecutive appearances in either the Champions League or Europa League, their quality has been prevalent in Europe's third-tier club competition.

Last week's first-leg victory means Carlos Vicens's side have won each of their three continental outings with clean sheets, following a 5-0 aggregate thrashing of Zeleznicar Pancevo across both legs of the previous round.

However, Braga's build-up was disrupted at the weekend when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Moreirense in their Primeira Liga opener, with Vicens' rotated side surrendering one-goal leads on two occasions following strikes from Fran Navarro and Pau Victor.

A similar result this Thursday would still be enough to see Braga progress to the Conference League playoff round, where they will face either Beitar Jerusalem or Austria Vienna, and the Minho club will be confident given they have not lost any of their last six competitive outings.

There will, however, be some caution to be taken, given the Archbishops' most recent defeat came on the continental front, where they were beaten 3-1 on their trip to Freiburg in the return leg of last season's Europa League semi-final.

Dinamo Minsk Conference League form:

Dinamo Minsk form (all competitions):

Braga Conference League form:

Braga form (all competitions):

Team News

Dinamo Minsk finished the first leg against Braga seemingly without any fresh injuries, though the Belarusian hosts will once again be without winger Ivan Bakhar, who has not featured since March because of a hamstring problem.

Karen Vardanyan could return to lead the line here, having been introduced after the break last week, meaning Leonard Gweth is likely to give way after failing to make the most of his first start on the continental front this season.

Braga head coach Vicens made substantial changes and deployed a three-man backline in last weekend's league fixture from the side that started in last week's first leg against Dinamo Minsk, but we should see the likes of Joao Moutinho and Pau Victor return to the lineup.

Bright Arrey-Mbi picked up an injury in that draw at Moreirense, making him a doubt for this encounter, while fellow defenders Sikou Niakhate and Adrian Barisic remain sidelined with Achilles and abductor issues, respectively.

Dinamo Minsk possible starting lineup:

Shimakovich; Gurban, Ivanov, Kalinin, Vakulich; Selyava, Zhechko, Abdullahi; Djimet, Vardanyan, Malashevich

Braga possible starting lineup:

Fontes; V Gomez, Barcia, V Carvalho, Bajrami; Moutinho, Gorby, Huseinbasic; G Silva, Horta, Victor

We say: Dinamo Minsk 0-1 Braga (Braga win 2-0 aggregate)

Dinamo Minsk are expected to try to overturn their deficit, but Braga possess the better quality and could take advantage of the hosts' vulnerability at the back when committing men forward.

However, we expect a controlled game that will not produce many goals, even if the Portuguese visitors are expected to edge the encounter.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.