Football news

The UAF Referees Committee has appointed the refereeing team for the 14th round match of the Ukrainian Championship 2025/26 season between Kyiv’s Dynamo and Poltava, scheduled for next Monday, December 1, in Kyiv at the Dynamo Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi (kick-off at 15:30).

The field referee is Oleksiy Derevinsky from Khmelnytskyi. In the current Ukrainian championship, he has already officiated a match involving Dynamo once: in the first round of the championship, the «white-blues» won against Rivne’s Veres away under the supervision of this 36-year-old referee with a score of 1—0.

The assistants on the lines for the Dynamo vs. Poltava match will be Viktor Matiash (Donetsk) and Svitlana Hrushko (Kyiv region). The fourth referee is Maksym Kozyriatskyi (Zaporizhia).

The upcoming meeting will also feature the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, led by Oleksandr Omelchenko from Sloviansk.

The Telegram channel «TaToTake», citing its sources close to Kyiv «Dynamo», denies the metropolitan club’s negotiations with Luhansk «Zorya» regarding this team’s goalkeeper Aleksandr Saputin.

It is reported that the structure of this transfer was supposed to look like this: instead of Saputin, Kyiv residents were allegedly supposed to give «Zorya» their goalkeeper Valentyn Morgun and midfielder Oleksandr Yatsyk — on loan until the end of the season.

Also, according to the source, the last offer for Saputin from the UPL club was 1.5 million euros, but Luhansk’s president Yevhen Heller rejected it.

The management of Real continues to express full confidence in head coach Xabi Alonso, reports the authoritative publication Marca.

In the state of the Madrid club, Alonso is still considered a key figure in the current sports project. This position is maintained despite the team’s recent results.

Xabi Alonso is perceived by the club management as the ideal mentor for the team. At Real, all decisions made by the Spanish specialist are supported. This specifically includes tactical experiments and decisions regarding player substitutions, including Vinicius Junior. Alonso’s authority within the team, according to the source, is considered higher than that of any player. He is positioned as a leader capable of confidently leading the project forward.

The club management also expresses calm about the unstable situation that has developed. The loss of points in recent matches does not cause concern because at Real this phenomenon is regarded as normal.

The head coach of Manchester United, Ruben Amorim, expressed disagreement with referee Tony Harrington’s decision to dismiss Everton defender Idrissa Gueye for a scuffle with teammate Michael Keane in the 13th minute of their face-to-face match in the 12th round of the English championship.

“Arguing is not bad. It doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other. I disagree with this dismissal, arguments with teammates are possible. I hope that my players, when they lose the ball, argue with each other. They shouldn’t be dismissed for this, but they show in many matches that they are capable of doing so,” Amorim’s words are quoted by Manchester Evening News.

Last Tuesday, November 25, some matches of the 5th round of the main stage of the Champions League took place. Here are their results.

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The Munich Bayern and England national team striker Harry Kane commented on rumors about his move to Barcelona.

’I haven’t contacted anyone, no one has contacted me. I feel very comfortable in the current situation, although we have not yet discussed my contract with Bayern. There is no rush. I am very happy in Munich. It is evident from my game. If there is contact, then we’ll see. But for now, I’m not thinking about the new season. Ahead is the World Cup this summer. And it’s unlikely anything will change after this season', — quotes Kane’s words journalist Toby Altschäffl.

FIFA announced the composition of pots for the final draw of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place on December 5.

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Dynamo Kyiv U-19 midfielder Andrian Bekersky shared his expectations ahead of the first match of the 3rd round of Champions Path of the UEFA Youth League against Scotland’s Hibernian U-19.

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The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to suspend Portuguese national team forward and captain Cristiano Ronaldo for one match after his sending off in the fifth qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup against Ireland, reports Mundo Deportivo.

According to the source, the 40-year-old footballer has already served this suspension, as he missed the sixth-round match against Armenia. Thus, Ronaldo will be able to participate in the first game of the World Cup, which will take place next summer. The Portuguese player could have faced a suspension of two to three matches.

The legendary tennis player Rafael Nadal, who ended his career last year, shared an important message for the 18-year-old talent of «Barcelona» and the Spanish national team, Lamine Yamal.

«It is important for him to be surrounded by people who genuinely want to help him and have enough wisdom to hear what successful athletes often find unpleasant to listen to,» Nadal’s words are quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

The reputable publication The Athletic published information about the reasons for the conflict between Real Madrid winger Vinicius and the club’s head coach Xabi Alonso.

According to the source, Vinicius Junior’s contract is valid until the end of June 2027. Negotiations for an extension began in January, but as reported earlier, they soon reached an impasse— the parties could not reach an agreement.

«After Real’s victory over Barcelona on October 26th, Vinicius went to club president Florentino Perez to apologize for his behavior. He reacted emotionally to Alonso’s substitution in the 72nd minute: he left the field in anger and shouted: It’s always me! I’m leaving the team, it’s better this way, I’m leaving!».

During that meeting, the topic of the player’s future was also touched upon. Vinicius made it clear that extending the contract now is not the best option for him given his relationship with Alonso. Since then, his position has not changed.

Sources close to the Brazilian have repeatedly told The Athletic about his concerns regarding Alonso, who took over as head coach of Real in May after Carlo Ancelotti’s departure. In the first three months of the season, the tension only increased, and now this story is discussed daily inside and outside the club.

Alonso has spoken several times about his relationship with Vinicius at press conferences. He emphasized that they do not have a personal conflict and that rotation is an important part of his approach. In recent weeks, he often appears irritated by the ongoing fuss around this," the source reports.

Barcelona’s 28-year-old midfielder Raphinha commented on Barcelona’s prospects this Champions League season ahead of the fifth round group stage match against Chelsea.

«Candidates to win the UCL? If you reread all my interviews, I always said that playing for 'Barcelona', the main goal should be to win the Champions League,» Raphinha’s words are quoted by Marca.