Football news

Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny decided to revive his football career and signed a contract with Barcelona.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the 34-year-old goalkeeper signed a one-year deal with Barcelona as a free agent. In the coming days, Wojciech will arrive in Spain to undergo a medical examination.

Barcelona's main goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a serious injury that left him out of action for 7-8 months.

It should be added that Szczęsny recently announced his retirement. One of the reasons for Wojciech's decision to retire was the lack of contract offers from top clubs after his departure from Juventus.

The head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine Dmytro Mykhailenko confirmed that the UAF is actively working on the naturalization of MU winger Zakhary Baumann.

- "Of course, we have been following him since he expressed his desire to play for the Ukrainian national team. Our representatives have been in touch with him and his parents. If a player wants to get citizenship, it is definitely a positive thing and we should encourage it. In times of war, there are more and more such players. Therefore, we are actively tracking players with Ukrainian roots.

First of all, when calling up players from foreign clubs, we must adhere to the sports principle, and there is no difference where the player plays - he must match the level of the best players of the Ukrainian national team, this is the main indicator," said theUFcoach.

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has spoken ahead of the Europa League group stage match against Dutch side Twente.

- "Twente gave me a lot. I was trained at their academy. I was part of the generation of the first youth team. I would like to play against someone else. It is unpleasant to hurt someone you love," said Eric ten Hag.

Popular commentator and journalist Igor Tsyganik told us why Girona midfielder Viktor Tsygankov decided to stay at the Spanish club.

"There was interest from Aston Villa and Fulham. Tsygankov wants to play in a top club, so he decided to play in Girona this season to prove himself in the Champions League. I think he will succeed. A top club may be interested in Tsygankov next summer," Tsyganyk said on the FootballHub telegram channel.

In a little over an hour in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion the starting whistle will sound in the match of the first round of the Europa League main stage between Dynamo Kyiv and Lazio Rome. The kick-off is at 22:00 Kyiv time. A few minutes ago the starting line-ups for this match became known.

"Dynamo: 1.Buschan - 24.Tymchyk, 28.Ceballos, 32.Mikhavko, 44.Dubinchak - 6.Brazhko, 10.Shaparenko - 7.Yarmolenko (K), 76.Pikhalenok, 22.Kabaev - 11.Vanat.
Reserves: 35.Nescheret, 2.Vivcharenko, 3.Dyachuk, 4.Popov, 15.Rubchynskyi, 18.Andriyevskyi, 20.Karavaev, 23.Malysh, 29.Buyalskyi, 39.Guerrero, 40.Bilovar, 45.Bragaru.

"Lazio": 94.Provedel, 77.Marusic, 4.Patrick (K), 13.Romagnoli, 3.Pellegrini, 5.Vesina, 6.Rovella, 7.Dele-Bashiru, 20.Chauna, 9.Rodriguez, 19.Dia.
Reserves: 35.Mandas, 55.Furlanetto, 8.Gendusi, 10.Zaccagni, 11.Castellanos, 14.Noslin, 18.Isaksen, 29.Lazzari, 30.Nuno Tavares, 34.Hila.

Online broadcast of Dynamo vs Lazio >>>>

Former Ukraine national team midfielder Andriy Polunin told which of Dynamo's players can take the lead in the first match of the Europa League group stage against Lazio, which will take place on September 25 in Hamburg.

- "This season, Dynamo has been representing Ukraine with dignity on the international stage. I hope that the Kyiv team will be able to perform well in the second-ranked continental football tournament, the Europa League.

Who can be in the spotlight? I expect a bright game from Mykola Shaparenko, Vladyslav Kabaev, and Volodymyr Brazhko. Scouts of famous clubs are closely watching the competition in the Europa League, and with a good game, you can get a tempting offer. This chance should be used.

Of course, I really want Dynamo to start this tournament with a victory. And although Kyiv has a long bench, I think that coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi will throw all the leading players into the battle. I am aware that his Lazio colleague does not rule out the appearance of several reserves in the start, but it is the prerogative of the Romans to put on the field.

Today a lot will depend on who scores a quick goal. This would primarily benefit Dynamo, who like to counterattack, while Lazio is a more viscous team. Still, I am inclined to believe that there will be no winner in Hamburg," Polunin said.

Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe underwent a medical examination this morning, which showed that he will not be able to take part in the city derby with Atletico Madrid.

The French forward felt discomfort in his left thigh in the match against Alaves (3:2), writes As.

"After an examination carried out today on our player Kylian Mbappe by Real Madrid's medical staff, he has been diagnosed with a thigh injury in his left leg. More information is expected," Real Madrid said.

Mbappe's injury in the match against Alaves occurred around the 80th minute. During the substitution, passing by coach Carlo Ancelotti, Mbappe put his hand on his left thigh, writes Tema sport. The Italian coach explained Mbappe's actions as an overload.

Today, on September 25, in Hamburg, Dynamo Kyiv will play its first match of the Europa League group round, where its opponent will be one of the leading Italian clubs, Lazio Rome. Artem Fedetskyi, a former player of Shakhtar, Arsenal, Kharkiv, Karpaty, Dnipro and the Ukrainian national team, shared his impressions of this opponent and his vision of the current match. At one time, he had to play against the Italians, and Lazio in particular.

Read completely →

Former Dynamo forward and ex-coach Maksym Shatskikh, now Pakhtakor's coach, gave an interview ahead of the White and Blues' Europa League match against Lazio.

Read completely →

Former Dnipro-1 head coach Oleksandr Kucher told us what he expects from the Dynamo vs. Lazio Europa League match and explained what will help Kyiv defeat the Romans.

Read completely →

The Ukrainian Premier League continues to recognize the heroes of the 2024/25 season and has named the symbolic team of the 7th round of the Ukrainian championship, as well as the best player and the best coach of the 7th round. Traditionally, this was done together with the hosts, experts, commentators of UPL TV and representatives of the leading sports media of Ukraine.

Vitalii Volochai, Maksym Gilenko, Volodymyr Zverov, Ruslan Kostyshyn, Oleksandr Kostiuk, Myroslav Nebesnyk, Vitalii Pohvala, Serhii Rybalka, Maksym Feshchuk, Eduard Tsykhmeystruk, Vladyslav Shalota, Oleh Shelayev and Dmytro Shpirko took part in the survey on behalf of UPL TV.

Dmytro Vatras and Oleksandr Sazhko (in tandem from Tribuna), Ivan Verbytskyi (Ukrainskyi Tyzhden), Serhii Dryha (Sportarena), Yurii Ostroumov (Sport.ua), Andrii Pavlechko (NV), Vitalii Pasichnyi (Football.ua), Oleksandr Popov (Dynamo.kiev.ua), Ihor Semyon (Ua-football), Serhiy Sytnyk (Futbum), Mykhailo Smolovyi (Ta To Tacke), Andriy Tverdokhlib (Champion), Mykhailo Yukhymenko (Football 24), Yevhen Yasenov (Terrikon). In addition, representatives of the Pressing and Football Club publications expressed their collective opinion.

Vitaliy Ponomaryov, who won a remarkable away draw with Rukh against Dynamo, was recognized by 29 experts as the best coach of Matchday 7, and Heorhiy Sudakov (Shakhtar) was named the best player of Matchday 7.

The top 5 players also include Artem Bondarenko (Shakhtar), Oleksiy Hutsulyak (Polissya), Maksym Tretyakov (Kolos) and Mykyta Kravchenko (Oleksandriya). The top three coaches are Marino Pushic (Shakhtar) and Oleksandr Pozdeyev (Kolos).

In total, the experts mentioned 30 players and 10 coaches as heroes of the 7th round, as well as 58 candidates for the symbolic team. Therefore, in addition to the 11 players of the conditional starting lineup, we have also added a conditional reserve for the symbolic team of the round: Substitutes: Bushchan (Dynamo), Ledviy (Rukh), Sych (Rukh), Tobias (Shakhtar), Didyk (Rukh), Matvienko (Shakhtar), Williwald (Ingulets), Brazhko (Dynamo), Klots (Veres), Fedir (Rukh), Traore (Shakhtar), Krasnopir (Rukh).

A meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee took place in Prague, Czech Republic, where a number of important decisions were made for European football.

In particular, the Executive Committee approved the new UEFA Women's Football Strategy for the period from 2024 to 2030. All details will be published in the coming weeks when it is officially launched.

Distribution of solidarity payments for clubs not participating in European Cup competitions for the 2024-2027 cycle

Last year, the UEFA Executive Committee approved a significant increase in the distribution of solidarity payments for clubs not participating in UEFA men's club competitions for the 2024-2027 cycle, which will see this amount increase from 4% to 7% of the projected threshold revenue of €4.4 billion. This amounts to €308 million - an increase of almost 80% compared to the previous cycle.

At today's meeting, the Executive Committee approved the criteria for allocating the new amounts. It confirmed the restriction of the distribution among the top five associations (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France): each of them will receive €10 million. Thus, the funds available to the remaining 50 associations will increase from the current €135 million to a total of €258 million. 70% of these sums will be distributed depending on their position in the UEFA access list, while 30% will be proportional to the amounts received by the most profitable club of each association, an innovative concept aimed directly at the competitive balance in the domestic leagues.

The basic principles are as follows:

- funds are reserved for top division clubs that do not participate in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League phases;

- these funds are intended to maintain a competitive balance in the European top flight leagues, where some clubs benefit from additional revenue streams through participation in European competitions;

- part of the funds may be allocated to second division clubs with the consent of the top division clubs;

- the funds improve or strengthen club structures and governance standards, thereby contributing to the healthy development of European club football;

- to be eligible for these payments, clubs must meet certain UEFA club licensing criteria, with youth training criteria still being a crucial element.

Full details of the new solidarity sharing scheme will be announced in a circular letter in the coming weeks.

UEFA Champions League Final 2027

As the Municipality of Milan was unable to guarantee that the San Siro Stadium and its surroundings would not be affected by renovation work during the 2027 UEFA Champions League Final, it was decided not to schedule the final in Milan and to reopen the tender process to identify a suitable venue. A decision is expected in May/June 2025.