“Shovkovsky squeezed the maximum out of the team. This year, we should expect a greater focus on European cups,” — commentator

Commentator Sergey Lukyanenko shared his thoughts on the struggle for the gold medals of the Ukrainian championship in the current season.

Alexander Shovkovsky. Photo — A. Popov

This year, it is expected that the championship will be contested between the usual duo of “Shakhtar” and “Dynamo.” Interestingly, such a scenario has actually only happened once in the last three seasons.

“Shakhtar,” under the leadership of Arda Turan, is expected to improve. We have already seen this in the Europa League qualification. I don’t see significant prerequisites for “Dynamo” to progress compared to last season. Alexander Shovkovsky has squeezed the maximum out of the team. And, probably, this year we should expect a greater focus on European cups. Because to be embarrassed there for two consecutive seasons — for the Kyiv giant, that’s quite too much.

Closest to the Donetsk and Kyiv teams, I see “Karpaty.” Vladislav Lupashko’s team looked great last season when they only just rose to the EPL. They have undergone extremely few changes in the squad. And this kind of stability is the foundation for progress. I see “Polesie” lower, considering that Ruslan Rotan, despite the club’s resources, is lagging behind by one year in terms of time to build the team,” said Lukyanenko.