Club affairs are back in the focus of Ukrainian football media. The main focus is on Dynamo Kyiv's start in the Champions League qualifiers, Polissia's debut in European competition, and the situation with Dnipro-1. But the success of the youth national team, which reached the semifinals of the European Under-19 Championship, also caused a great deal of excitement.
Dynamo Kyiv, which will open the new season for Ukrainian clubs, is completing preparations for the first match of the second qualifying round of the Champions League against Partizan. Oleksandr Shovkovsky's team will host the Serbian rivals in Lublin, Poland, on Tuesday.
The final friendly match was played on Thursday against the participant of the group stage of the last Champions League - Berlin's Union. The interesting game, which undoubtedly provided a lot of useful information to Dynamo's coaching staff, ended in a 2-3 defeat, with the decisive goal scored literally in the last seconds.
"In general, the teams played an even game, which ended in a victory for the German team due to mistakes in defense by Kyiv. However, Union's defense was not perfect either," writes journalist Mykhailo Chernysh(ua-football.com, 07/18/24).
It should be noted that the white and blues had enough experiments even in the final sparring match - in particular, the appearance of young Malysh in defense. Newcomer Ceballos is also just starting to get into the game, as he has only recently recovered from an injury.
And before that, Dynamo won 1-0 against one of the leading African clubs, Mamelodi Sundowns. Thus, during the training camp in Austria, five control matches were held: in addition to the two matches mentioned above, Kyiv drew with German Paderborn (0: 0) and Schalke (2: 2) and defeated Danish Brondby (4: 0).
On Friday, the team had a day off, and some players had the opportunity to work out individually to improve their physical condition.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian media note that on the eve of Dynamo's unusually early start in the Champions League qualifiers, head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi found himself in a difficult situation due to the involvement of a large number of players in UEFA EURO 2024, the Paris Olympics, and the European Youth Championship (U19).
"There was no Euro a year ago, so the main players had more time to rest and more flexibility. And Kyiv did not start so early in official tournaments - a week later. However, it was then the UPL with relatively weak opponents in the first two rounds, and the European Cups (Conference League qualifiers) began for the team 18 days later," Tribuna reminds(ua.tribuna.com, 21.07.24).
All of this forced Shovkovskyi to look for non-standard options for forming the squad and to work out different game models. Among the numerous experiments in sparring, the following stood out:
- Naveen Malysh in the center of defense;
- Nazar Voloshyn as a right back;
- using Anton Tsarenko and Volodymyr Shepelev on the attacking flanks;
- positive feedback from Justin Lonwijk.
"Again, Kostiantyn Vivcharenko was played more often with the base than Vladyslav Dubinchak, and Andriy Yarmolenko even dealt with opponents of the level of these sparring sessions on foot. Georgiy Bushchan, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Vanat and Brazhko are untouchable. It is highly likely that 20-year-old Malysh will play in the center of defense. He is anominal right-back, but a versatile player who even managed to play as a full-back/inside in the U-19," suggests columnist Dmytro Vatras(ua.tribuna.com, 21.07.24).
In addition, the author notes a number of tactical developments by Dynamo at the training camp.
"Dynamo tried to turn on aggressive pressure more often - with a change of formation. This applies to both the opponent's draws from the goal and dynamic pressure in different phases of the game. Either the standard 4-1-4-1, but with a high positioning, or actually 4-4-2 - one of the insides moves to the forward, and the fullback also moves up the line to the second insider.
Shaparenko seems to have a change of functions - this is combined with the role of Pikhalenko. When the former Dnipro man or Oleksandr Andriievskyi (in the support area) are on the field, Mykola is not as active in getting the ball - as if he is following instructions to look for space ahead and open up there. But Pikhalenok very often performs Shaparenko's "old" duties - he acts from the depths during draws," Vatras believes(ua.tribuna.com, 21.07.24).
It is also noted that Kyiv are trying out a new formation not only in pressure but also in possession. Sometimes they deploy a three-man back line in order to cover more corridors/areas on the field. A holding midfielder (as Andrievsky did) or a left back can be the third.
"This explains both the use of Malysh in the center, because he has good ball handling, and partially solves Vivcharenko's problems in attack - he is less involved up front in such conditions. But the most important thing that comes out of the hybrid formations is the effectiveness of the Tymchyk-Yarmolenko combination on the right flank. Oleksandr takes over the width, which allows Andriy to move to the center.
Together, they are great at accelerating played (!) combinations with Tymchyk's jerks down the flank, but the key is that even after the fullback's breaks, there is a clear mechanism of action - the left wingers open up for the pass and run to the center. There were as many as three such similar goals," the author emphasizes(ua.tribuna.com, 21.07.24).
In addition, the work with the drawing of standard positions in the attack is obvious - the goals of central defender Denys Popov illustrate this well. However, according to Vatras, the problems with standards in defense and throw-ins behind the backs of defenders have not yet been resolved.
"Otherwise, I still like Shovkovsky's work - at least because of the presence of many new interesting ideas," concludes theTribuna columnist(ua.tribuna.com, 21.07.24).
"Dynamo traveled to Lublin on Saturday. And although bookmakers and experts see the Ukrainian club as the favorite to face Partizan, everyone expects extremely difficult matches, the tension around which is also heightened by certain non-football factors.
First of all, we are talking about Partizan fans, who have repeatedly been noted for their support of Russia. And the club itself has been tarnished by its recent tour to the aggressor country, where it played against CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, and Dynamo Moscow.
As it was known in advance, the return match in Belgrade would be held without Partizan's fans, but for additional security reasons, it was decided that both games would be held without away fans.
Thus, in accordance with the agreement reached, Partizan will not sell tickets to its fans for the match in Lublin and urges them not to travel to Poland on their own.
Dynamo Kyiv will adhere to the same agreement and will not have the support of its fans at the match in Belgrade, to which the club is entitled, despite the fact that Partizan will be under UEFA sanctions in this match (a ban on adult spectators, not including the visiting team's fans, being allowed into the stands).
Meanwhile, on Monday, the draw for the next stage of the Champions League took place in Nyon, Switzerland: in case of an overall victory over Partizan, Kyiv will play against Scottish vice-champion Rangers in the third qualifying round of the tournament.
The draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League, where Dynamo will be placed in case of failure against the Serbs, also took place: the loser of the Lugano-Fenerbahçe match was a potential rival of the white and blues. Kryvbas, the bronze medalist of the Ukrainian championship, also got its opponent at this stage - Victoria from Pilsen.
Two days after Dynamo's match, an extraordinary event will take place for Ukrainian football - the recent UPL newcomer Polissya will make its European debut. The Zhytomyr club will play the first match of the second qualifying round of the Conference League in Ljubljana against local side Olimpija.
"Polissia has been very active this offseason in preparation for its European Cup premiere: it all started with the unexpected appointment of 36-year-old Imad Ashour as head coach, who previously worked exclusively with juniors and youth - at Chornomorets, Qatar's ASPIRE Academy, and Dnipro-1.
In a short time, Ashour's team has been very renewed. In particular, the Zhytomyr club has already said goodbye to former Ukrainian national team players Denys Boyko and Artem Shabanov. Other players, whom Ashur did not expect to play in the future, also left. We are talking about Vasyl Kravets, Denys Ndukwe, Yevhen Morozko, Denys Yanakov, Vasyl Hrytsuk, as well as the loaned Ivan Petryak, Mykyta Kravchenko and Yassin Fortune.
Minus ten players of the main squad (all those who left received playing practice in the UPL in the 2023/24 season as part of Wolves) is more than a radical step towards renewal. Meanwhile, Eduard Sarapiy and Oleksiy Hutsulyak from Dnipro-1, Danylo Bezkorovainyi from Kryvbas, Giorgi Maisuradze from Dynamo Tbilisi, Dimitar Traikov from the North Macedonian club Brera Strumica, and Serhiy Korniychuk from Minaya arrived in Zhytomyr.
As free agents, the Zhytomyr team signed Yevhen Volynets and Ruslan Babenko, who previously played for Dnipro-1, as well as Matej Matić from Lokomotiva Ljubljana in Croatia and Joao Viallé from Ituano in Brazil. In addition, Bosnian forward Admir Bristić, whose contract belongs to Slovenian side Olimpija, joined the Wolves on loan.
"What can Polissia do? In terms of potential, this team is quite capable of claiming a place in the top 3. Yes, the "wolves" are still seriously inferior to Shakhtar and Dynamo, but they are more than capable of competing with ambitious Kryvbas, Rukh, Oleksandriya, Vorskla, Zorya, LNZ and Karpaty," notesSport.ua columnist Oleksiy Slyvchenko (19.07.24).
The matches against Slovenian side Olimpija will provide the first answers to the question of what to expect from the renewed Polissya, which underwent a major restructuring after last season. So far, the vector of reformatting Polissia chosen by Gennadiy Butkevych and his advisors looks far from obvious for projects of this level of ambition and capabilities, but risk is, as you know, a noble thing"(sport.ua, 19.07.24).
The situation is radically different for another nominal representative of Ukraine, who was to start in the Conference League next Thursday. For a long time, there was no official confirmation from UEFA that Dnipro-1 had been suspended, although the club's commercial director, Viacheslav Fridman, actually confirmed it publicly on Friday.
"...Do you think it would have been better if Dnipro-1 had been relegated by Pushkas Academy after losing twice? The Hungarians have a pretty decent team," he hinted quite eloquently(sport-express.ua, 19.07.24).
Therefore, formally, Dnipro-1 was included in Monday's draw for the third qualifying round of the Conference League, where its potential rival was the winner of the Ararat-Armenia-Zimbru match. "Polissia, if they reach this stage, will play Sheriff or Elfsborg.
It was only on Monday evening that information emerged that the UEFA Appeals Body had made a decision on both matches between Dnipro-1 and Pushkash Academy, which were to take place on July 25 and August 1. Both games were recognized as not taking place through the fault of the Ukrainian club. "Dnipro-1 was credited with 2 defeats, 0:3 each(uefa.com, 22.07.24).
But on the national stage, the vicissitudes with the Dnipro club came to an end a little earlier. Thus, on July 16, the UPL clubs met and by a majority vote agreed to appeal to the UAF with a request to investigate the situation:
"The position of SC Dnipro-1 calls into question the preservation of the integrity of the UPL club competitions, provokes uncertainty in all professional football leagues of Ukraine and does not allow the UPL to work efficiently with potential sponsors and partners for future cooperation in the 2024/25 season.
The procedure for issuing / revoking the Certificate for admission to the UPL club competitions of the 2024/25 season falls within the exclusive competence of the UAF. Therefore, at the General Meeting of UPL participants, a decision was initiated to contact the UAF as soon as possible to take appropriate procedural actions to revoke the Certificate from SC Dnipro-1"(upl.ua, 07/16/24).
Two days later, UAF Secretary General Ihor Hryshchenko responded to the UPL in a letter stating the grounds on which Dnipro-1's certificate was issued, noting that the club had enough players to participate in the competition, and asking the UPL to investigate the situation:
"As of today, the UAF has not received any requests from SC Dnipro-1 or UEFA regarding any event that could have occurred after the submission of certification/licensing documentation and which could constitute a significant change from the previously provided information or a condition of great economic importance.
We would also like to inform you that the fact that there is a ban on the registration of new football players is not a violation, and therefore does not seem to be a possible ground for refusing to issue a certificate or revoking it. Taking into account the information available to the UAF and received in your letter, we inform you that there are currently no grounds for considering the revocation of the certificate for the admission of SC Dnipro-1 to the UPL club competitions of the 2024/2025 season"(uaf.ua, 18.07.24).
Finally, the next day, the UPL reported that the league had received an application from Dnipro-1 to withdraw from the UPL, and the clubs promptly considered possible options for replacing the club in the 2024/25 season:
"Representatives of the UPL clubs decided to grant the request of SC Dnipro-1 and withdraw it from the UPL. After that, according to the results of the rating vote, two proposals were identified for consideration by the UAF Executive Committee in accordance with Article 5 of the Regulations to replace SC Dnipro-1.
The first, which received the most votes, is to give FC Minaj a place in the UPL. The second is to hold a transitional tournament with the participation of four teams (Minaj, Metalist 1925, Livyi Bereh and Epicenter), the winner of which will play in the UPL in the 2024/25 season. The final decision on this issue must be made by the UAF Executive Committee"(upl.ua, 19.07.24).
It should be noted that, according to TaToTake, the option of granting an automatic place in the UPL to Minaj was supported by Veres, Zorya, Ingulets, Kryvbas, LNZ, Obolon, Polissya and Shakhtar. And Dynamo, Oleksandriya, Rukh, Chornomorets, and Kolos voted for the Tournament of Four. At the same time, Karpaty and Vorskla abstained(sportyvka.com.ua, 19.07.24).
Summarizing this saga, the UAF announced that at a meeting of the executive committee on Monday, it was decided to hold the playoffs.
"It should be noted that such a situation, when a team withdraws from the competition immediately before the start of the season, is not provided for in the regulations. Therefore, based on one of the UPL's proposals, which best meets the sporting criteria in this situation, the UAF Executive Committee approved a decision that the team that will replace Dnipro-1 in the UPL will be determined in a transitional tournament with the participation of four clubs (Minai, Metalist 1925, Livyi Bereh and Epicenter), the winner of which will play in the UPL in the 2024/25 season.
The tournament will consist of semifinals and the final, which will take place on July 26 and 30. The composition of the semifinal pairs will be determined by a blind draw. If the winner is not determined in regular time, a series of post-match penalties will be held immediately. The organization of the matches is entrusted to the UPL with the involvement of PFL representatives," the UAF said in a statement(uaf.ua, 22.07.24).
Regarding Dnipro-1's request to retain its professional status, the UAF Executive Committee decided that the club should apply to the PFL for membership in the league and, if the decision is positive, receive the right not to participate in this season's competitions with the possibility of returning to PFL competitions next season, subject to obtaining the appropriate certificate.
Finally, the UAF Executive Committee approved the principle that next season the teams that took the last and penultimate places in the UPL cannot, in the event of a similar situation, claim to remain in the elite division. This right will be granted to the clubs that played in the transitional matches.
Later that day, the draw for the transitional mini-tournament for the right to play in the UPL in the 2024/25 season took place. According to its results, Left Bank and Metalist 1925 will play in the first semifinal, and Epicenter and Minaj in the second. The matches will take place on July 26, and the final between the winners will be held on July 30. The host of the final will be the winner of the match between Livyi Bereh and Metalist 1925(football.ua, 22.07.24).
In addition to club affairs, the Ukrainian media continued to pay attention to the youth and Olympic teams. The former has completed the group stage of the U19 European Championship in Ireland, while the latter has completed the main stage of preparation for the Games in Paris.
After a not very successful start - a zero-zero draw with Northern Ireland - Dmytro Mykhailenko's team played two more matches in their group last week. First, our U19 team drew 0:0 again - in a match with Norway, which was considered its main competitor in the fight for second place (the first experts gave the current European champions in this category to the Italians).
"The first half can't be credited to our guys. Like in the match against Northern Ireland, there were few ideas up front, the game in the center of the field was not very coherent. The Ukrainians were constantly creating problems out of nowhere. The second half was much better, but now Dmytro Mykhaylenko's team failed to realize their potential. Another zero at this Euro,"Football24.ua journalist Andriy Buletsa summed up the match of the 2nd round (18.07.24).
Thus, after two game days, the Ukrainians are in second place with two points, one ahead of Norway and Northern Ireland, and Italy won the group ahead of schedule with six points. Thus, a victory in the third round against the reigning U19 European champion guaranteed Mykhailenko's team a ticket to the Euro semifinals.
And in the end, in a very dramatic fight, Ukraine got the necessary three points.
"At the beginning of the match, the nominal guests organized two scoring chances at our goal. First, Manny scored from the center of the penalty area above the goal, and then Ebone, who closed the shot, sent the ball next to the bar. The Ukrainians' response was unexpected and ended in trouble for the Italian national team. After Gusev's throw-in and Paniukko's positional mistake, Synchuk technically threw the ball over the goalkeeper," notesSport.ua columnist Oleksandr Tishura (07/21/24).
"The Italians gained the advantage and actively searched for approaches to our penalty area, managing to equalize the result. Di Mangio made a free kick to Ebone, who pushed the ball past Krapivtsov. Dmytro Mykhaylenko's men started the second half of the match actively, but the ball ended up in our goal again. Romano played with Ebony and scored exactly in the corner. Fortunately, Krevsun, assisted by Ponomarenko, immediately equalized(sport.ua, 07/21/24).
Over time, the Ukrainians caused more and more problems for the Italian defense. Hajiyev scored from a good position, but the ball flew exactly to the place where Magro was standing. During one of the blue-and-yellow counterattacks, Corradi touched Matkevich in his own penalty area, and the referee pointed to the 11-meter mark, showing the second yellow card to the Italian. Ponomarenko converted the penalty with a cold-blooded shot," Tishura concludes his report on the game (21.07.24).
This result allowed the youth national team of Ukraine not only to make it to the semifinals of the U19 European Championship, where it will play France (although without the disqualified Vashchenko, Matkevich and Ponomarenko), but also to automatically qualify for the 2025 World Youth Championship!
As for Ruslan Rotan's Olympic team, on Thursday it played its final friendly match in France against Paraguay. Hlan opened the scoring in the 31st minute after a pass from Mykhailenko, and at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second, Fesyun parried two penalties. Under the curtain, Fedir doubled the advantage of the blue and yellows, assisted by Ocheretko. However, after conceding in the 86th and 89th minutes, our team lost the victory - 2: 2.
On July 19, the Olympic team traveled to Lyon, where it began direct preparations for the opening match with Iraq. Before that, the team was supported by the President of the National Olympic Committee Vadym Gutzeit.
"For the first time in the history of independence, Ukraine will be represented at the Games by a football team. They will take the field at the Olympic Games on July 24. We hope that they will show their best game.
Together with the head coach Ruslan Rotan and the head of the UAF Andriy Shevchenko, we have been cooperating a lot on this issue, meeting and talking to ensure that we have a strong team. We talked to the club presidents to provide the best players and let them go. So we hope that we will succeed," Gutzeit said with understandable pre-start excitement(sport.ua, 18.07.24).
UAF denies rumors. Meanwhile, the UAF has denied rumors about its alleged plans to replace national team head coach Serhiy Rebrov with Mircea Lucescu. The pseudo-sensation was launched by Romanian insider Decebal Redulescu.
"Lucescu is a different story, I'm telling you this for the first time, I have information that he is discussing the possibility of taking over the Ukrainian national team. I heard that Shevchenko called him the other day. I heard that he is in talks with the Ukrainian national team, which I find incredible," he told DigiSport(football24.ua, 19.07.24).
However, on the same day, the UAF press service denied this information at the request of Sport-express.ua (19.07.24).
"Karpaty received the CAS decision and changed their coach. The Lviv club reported that on July 18, 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport of Lausanne (CAS) sent a decision in the case of the claim of former Karpaty player Cristobal Marquez, according to which the new club was recognized as the sports successor of the previous club and it is responsible for financial obligations to the player(football24.ua, 18.07.24).
At the same time, Karpaty noted that the club had foreseen the possible outcome and consequences of this case and was ready to comply with the CAS decisions. The rumors about the change of head coach at the Lviv club, which is preparing to return to the UPL, were also confirmed. On Friday,Karpaty announced the resignation of Myron Markevych and the appointment of Vladyslav Lupashko, who initially took over the U-19 team in the offseason(fckarpaty.org.ua, 19.07.24).
Assistance to Okhmatdyt from Dynamo and the Surkis Brothers Foundation. In a continuation of their initiative to support Kyiv's Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital, which was damaged during the recent Russian missile attack, FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Surkis Brothers Foundation announced that they will fully rebuild and restore the Center for Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy for Children.
According to RBC-Ukraine, the parties signed a separate memorandum that provides for the immediate restoration of the Center after the damage, as well as the presentation of specific plans for the reconstruction and support of the hospital by FC Dynamo.
"We continue to do our job. Even before the full-scale war, and after it started, FC Dynamo Kyiv supported Ukrainian hospitals, defense forces, and people affected by the armed aggression," said the club's CEO Dmytro Brief(rbc.ua, 17.07.24).
The Center for Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy is a new department that was opened three months ago. Orphan diseases are rare "orphan diseases" that occur once in many millions of cases. One example is SMA - spinal muscular atrophy, when impulses between the brain and muscles are disrupted in a child. There are about 300 cases of this disease in Ukraine.
The Center for Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy is currently considering the possibility of restoring the premises of the Center for Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy in the building where it was previously located or re-equipping the existing premises in another building. In addition to rebuilding the hospital's department, Dynamo will continue to implement other humanitarian projects and provide daily assistance to Okhmatdyt with food, water, and other necessities(rbc.ua, 17.07.24).
Orest LELEKA