The honored coach of Ukraine Myron Markevych commented on the poor performance of Ukrainian clubs in the European cups this season.
— How predictable were the disappointing results of Ukrainian clubs on the Euro stage for you?
— I hoped, like most fans, for better, but… It turned out to be sad, to put it bluntly. Unfortunately, this is the level of our teams now. They are not competitive on the Euro stage and, however much we might not want to, we must accept it.
— If we set aside one huge, global problem for our state — the war, are there any logical explanations for the frankly disgraceful performance of Dynamo in the Europa League, the poor showing of Shakhtar in the Champions League, and the failure of Kryvbas and Polissia to even reach the group stages of the Conference League?
— The main problem is, of course, the war. All troubles stem from it. Only after it ends will our club football start to move forward. Before the war, there were many good, quality legionnaires in Dynamo, Shakhtar, Metalist, when I worked there. And our guys were not lagging behind. There was a very good, even high level of football in the domestic arena and results in Europe, and these are interconnected processes.
And now what? To put it mildly, the level of the UPL is weak, there are one or two high-class legionnaires, all in Shakhtar. Even Dynamo does not have good foreign players.
— Does it make sense to criticize Shovkovskyi and Pushych for the disappointing performances of Dynamo and Shakhtar in the European cups?
— No. They, in my opinion, are doing everything they can. Unfortunately, there is a concept of skill level, and many players from Dynamo and Shakhtar simply lack it for decent results in the Europa League or Champions League.
— The current situation in Ukrainian football reminds me of the beginning-middle of the 90s. Some uncertainty, hopelessness. For example, Dynamo barely beats the Latvian RFS (1:0) in the last match of the main stage of the Europa League, when no one actually needs anything, and this is already an event!
— You know, there is indeed something similar. Back then, many of our good players scattered here and there, then they went to play in Russia, and now to Europe. And then there were no quality legionnaires in Ukrainian teams, just like now. In the early 90s, the Higher League of Ukraine was a championship of very low level. Then, already in the mid-90s, people began to manage clubs who started investing serious money, and a very qualitative leap occurred.
It’s good that there are still academies, youth sports schools working at clubs now. Ukrainians are being invited to European clubs. So I wouldn’t say that the current situation is hopeless, speaking generally.
— In the 2025/26 season, only one team from Ukraine, the champion of the UPL, will play in the Champions League. And it will start its journey in the most prestigious tournament of the Old World from the very first qualifying round.
Given this path, and there will need to be four qualifying rounds since after the third qualifying round there is also a final, will Dynamo or Shakhtar make it to the main stage of the Champions League?
— It will be very difficult, and it does not matter who will eventually become the champion of the UPL. Currently, Dynamo has more chances for the gold, but if the Kyivans do not strengthen, not only the defense needs reinforcing but also the midfield, then they must pass the first-second round, and afterwards... I’m not sure.
— Is there light at the end of the tunnel? How can our teams once again be solid on the Euro stage and not just whipping boys?
— Everything hinges on the war. We need to endure, somehow survive. In general, the problem is complex. Firstly — the low level of the championship. Almost all UPL matches take place not even at medium but at low speeds. There is no worthy opposition for Dynamo and Shakhtar in the domestic arena. The main reason for the poor performances of our leading teams in European cups is the low level of the UPL.
Secondly, we need to somehow change the approach to nurturing young football players. Academies or youth sports schools should provide good, well-formed graduates to adult teams.
Thirdly, I will repeat, our clubs need quality legionnaires, because those who currently play… you know, it would be better if our guys played, maybe there would be more sense. Look at the prices clubs are paying now for legionnaires...
Krasnikov could tell you how to choose legionnaires, but I was also involved in the topic when I worked at Metalist. We didn’t even consider a legionnaire if he cost less than five million dollars, and now UPL clubs buy for a million, for 500 thousand... How much will a quality player cost? A waste of money.
We took Arielson from Karpaty and Polissia, and he has a screw loose… He is really "crazy", I didn’t know what to do with him. That’s the kind of legionnaires are coming to us. Or that guy from LNZ (referring to Francis Momo — ed. note), he didn’t even properly play for the team, and now he doesn't want to return to Ukraine. Why invite such legionnaires? It’s like burning money.
— Let’s talk about the most promising and expensive UPL players: Sudakov from Shakhtar and Dynamo's Vanat and Shaparenko. Do they have the prerequisites for full-fledged progress in the future, playing for their current clubs?
— If there is a good offer — players should definitely be released to Europe. What are they doing here? They feel "comfortable" in the UPL. But they should only be sold to good leagues in the top five, because Sudakov will not progress in Belgium or the Netherlands. And in Turkey even more so, because there most players walk around the pitch on foot, just like in our UPL.
As for Vanat and Shaparenko, they don’t look very good... I expected they would progress faster, that good, strong European clubs would buy them.
— In the next season of European cups, will we again see one or two matches and that’s it?
— Whatever team goes to the European cups, it will be hard to advance at least to the group stage of the Conference League. God forbid I’m wrong, because otherwise, at this rate, Ukraine will soon fall to the bottom of the UEFA ranking.
— How many seasons will our clubs need to make up for lost time, to restore Ukraine to at least the 15th place in the UEFA ranking?
— Who knows, maybe it will take ten years. It is essential that the presidents of our clubs actively engage, invest money in the teams, buy quality legionnaires, I will repeat again. That way, the process will speed up significantly.
Viktor Glukhentyi