2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League

The 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League season is the 30th top-level football club competition since the fall of the Soviet Union and the 13th since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. The defending champion is the 13-times winner Shakhtar Donetsk.

FavBet Liha (UPL)
Official logo[1]
Season2020–21
Dates21 August 2020 – 15 May 2021[2]
(winter break 13 December 2020 – 13 February 2021)
Matches played88
Goals scored242 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorer5 - Vladyslav Kulach (Vorskla), Shahab Zahedi (Olimpik Donetsk)
Biggest home win4 – Kolos 4–0 Lviv (Round 2), Shakhtar 5–1 Lviv (Round 6), Zorya Luhansk 4-0 Rukh Lviv (Round 7)
Biggest away win5 – Lviv 0–5 Zorya (Round 4)
Highest scoring7 – Vorskla 5–2 Rukh (Round 1), Oleksandriya 4–3 Inhulets (Round 6)
Total attendance32370[lower-alpha 1]
Average attendance1904[lower-alpha 1]
2021–22 →
All statistics correct as of 29 November 2020
  1. All matches with spectators have attendance restrictions of 25% stadium capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
.

The season started on 21 August 2020 and is set to end on 15 May 2021.[2]

Summary

This season is the first since the 2015–16, when the league will consist of double round-robin tournament, without the second stage and division to the two groups. This season also had the latest start of the competition in history.[4]

A season, that usually starts in July, was postponed for a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Ukraine. From 10 September[5] to 13 October 2020, attendance restrictions were lifted and stadiums were allowed some spectators not to exceed about 25% of stadium capacity.[6]

At least four managers of the UPL openly expressed their opinion not to postpone any games due to the COVID-19 cases.[7] Nevertheless two games of the season's fall half were postponed to spring.

For the next 2021–22 season, the league is expected to expand again to 16 teams as part of the league's expansion plan. As a consequence, this season the lowest-ranked team from Ukrainian Premier League will get relegated to Ukrainian First League, and at the same time the top three teams from the First League will gain promotion to the Premier League next season.

Teams

This season, as it was announced earlier, the Ukrainian Premier League has been expanded to 14 teams, which includes 11 teams from the previous season and the top three teams from the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League.[8]

Location map

The following displays the location of teams.

Kyiv
Kyiv teams :
Dynamo
Olimpik
Shakhtar
Donetsk
Donetsk teams :
Shakhtar
Olimpik
Inhulets
Lviv
Lviv teams :
Rukh
FC Lviv
Zoria
Home venues of teams in the 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League.
Teams in italics are from a conflict zone of the War in Donbass and are playing their home games in different cities.

Stadiums
Further information: List of football stadiums in Ukraine

Three of the qualified to the date teams play their matches outside of home towns. The minimum threshold for the stadium's capacity in the UPL is 5,000 (Article 10, paragraph 7.2).[9]

The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:

Rank Stadium Place Club Capacity Notes
1 NSC Olimpiyskiy Kyiv Dynamo Kyiv 70,050 [Note MYN–DYN]
Shakhtar Donetsk used as home ground during the season[10]
2 Arena Lviv Lviv Rukh Lviv 34,915 [11]
FC Lviv
3 Dnipro-Arena Dnipro SC Dnipro-1 31,003 [Note INH–DN1]
4 Ukraina Stadium Lviv FC Lviv 28,051 used as home ground in rounds 1-4
5 Vorskla Stadium Poltava Vorskla Poltava 24,795
6 Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium Kyiv Olimpik Donetsk
FC Mariupol		 16,873 used as home ground during the season
Round 12
7 Zirka Stadium Kropyvnytskyi Inhulets Petrove 14,628 used as home ground during the season[12][13][14][Note INH–DN1]
8 Volodymyr Boiko Stadium Mariupol FC Mariupol 12,680 due to turf restoration, all first half Mariupol played away[15]
9 Avanhard Stadium Uzhhorod FC Mynai 12,000 used as home ground during the season[Note MYN–DYN]
10 Slavutych-Arena Zaporizhzhia Zorya Luhansk 12,000 used as home ground during the season
11 CSC Nika Stadium Oleksandriya FC Oleksandriya 7,000
12 Chernihiv Stadium Chernihiv Desna Chernihiv 5,500
13 Obolon Arena Kyiv Desna Chernihiv 5,100 used as home ground in round 9
14 Kolos Stadium Kovalivka Kolos Kovalivka 5,000[16] Opened before Round 2[17][18][19]

Notes

  1. ^
    INH–DN1: The Round 1 game Inhulets – Dnipro-1 was played at Dnipro-Arena and Inhulets was selected as a formal host, instead the Round 14 game with Dnipro-1 as formal host will be played at Zirka Stadium, which is the home stadium of Inhulets during the first half of the season.[12][14] Before the start of the season, there was uncertainty where Inhulets would be hosting its home games in the UPL if get promoted. Since Petrove is located about halfway between Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi, Inhulets had some intentions to play at better stadium in Dnipro where it used to play at amateur level previously, but such arrangements go against certain administrative rules.
  2. ^
    MYN–DYN: The Round 4 game Mynai – Dynamo was played at NSC Olimpiyskiy and Mynai was selected as a formal host, instead the Round 17 game with Dynamo as formal host will be played at Avanhard Stadium.[20]

Personnel and sponsorship
Team President Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Desna Chernihiv Volodymyr Levin Oleksandr Ryabokon Vladyslav Ohirya Nike Parimatch
SC Dnipro-1 Yuriy Bereza Igor Jovićević Serhiy Lohinov Nike —
Dynamo Kyiv Ihor Surkis Mircea Lucescu Serhiy Sydorchuk New Balance —
Inhulets Petrove Oleksandr Povoroznyuk Serhiy Lavrynenko Vladyslav Lupashko Joma etg.ua
Kolos Kovalivka Andriy Zasukha Ruslan Kostyshyn Vitaliy Havrysh Nike Svitanok
FC Lviv Bohdan Kopytko[21] Vitaliy Shumskyi (interim) Rafael Sabino Jako Parimatch
FC Mariupol Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry Ostap Markevych Dmytro Myshnyov Nike Favorit Sport
FC Mynai Valeriy Peresolyak Vasyl Kobin Andrey Popovich Nike FavBet
FC Oleksandriya Serhiy Kuzmenko Volodymyr Sharan Yuriy Pankiv Nike AhroVista
Olimpik Donetsk Vladyslav Helzin Ihor Klymovskyi Vacant Joma Parimatch
Rukh Lviv Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi Ivan Fedyk Yaroslav Martynyuk Puma Grand Hotel
Shakhtar Donetsk Rinat Akhmetov Luís Castro Andriy Pyatov Nike Parimatch
Vorskla Poltava Kostyantyn Zhevago Yuriy Maksymov Volodymyr Chesnakov Nike Ferrexpo
Zorya Luhansk Yevhen Heller Viktor Skrypnyk Mykyta Shevchenko Nike Favorit Sport

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Table Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
Dynamo Kyiv Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko Mutual agreement[22] 20 July 2020[23] Pre-season Mircea Lucescu 23 July 2020[24] Pre-season
Olimpik Donetsk Ihor Klymovskyi (interim) Made permanent 20 July 2020[25] Ihor Klymovskyi 20 July 2020[25]
FC Mariupol Oleksandr Babych End of contract 30 July 2020[26] Ostap Markevych 3 August 2020[27]
SC Dnipro-1 Dmytro Mykhaylenko Resigned[28] 18 September 2020[29] 11th Igor Jovićević 22 September 2020[30] 11th
FC Lviv Giorgi Tsetsadze Resigned 24 October 2020[31] 14th Vitaliy Shumskyi (interim) 28 October 2020[32] 14th

League table

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dynamo Kyiv 13 9 3 1 25 10 +15 30 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Shakhtar Donetsk 12 7 5 0 30 11 +19 26 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3 Desna Chernihiv 13 6 5 2 18 11 +7 23 Qualification to Europa Conference League third qualifying round
4 Zorya Luhansk 12 5 5 2 23 10 +13 20 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
5 Vorskla Poltava 13 5 5 3 17 10 +7 20
6 Kolos Kovalivka 13 4 6 3 18 16 +2 18
7 Olimpik Donetsk 12 5 2 5 20 20 0 17
8 FC Oleksandriya 13 4 4 5 19 18 +1 16[lower-alpha 1]
9 FC Mariupol 13 4 4 5 14 19 −5 16[lower-alpha 1]
10 Inhulets Petrove 12 1 8 3 13 17 −4 11
11 FC Mynai 12 2 4 6 9 23 −14 10
12 Rukh Lviv 13 1 6 6 12 23 −11 9
13 FC Lviv 12 2 3 7 8 26 −18 9
14 SC Dnipro-1 13 2 2 9 16 28 −12 8 Relegation to the Ukrainian First League
Updated to match(es) played on 13 December 2020. Source: Ukrainian Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head bigger amount of goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Bigger amount of goals scored; 7) Draw or "Golden match" if two teams tied for title (Article 22, paragraph 3).[33]
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Oleksandriya 3, Mariupol 0

Results

Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis.

Home \ Away DES DN1 DYN INH KOL LVI MAR MYN OLK OLD RUX SHA VOR ZOR
Desna Chernihiv 0–1 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 1–0 3–1
SC Dnipro-1 2–0 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–3 0–1 2–2
Dynamo Kyiv 0–0 2–2 3–1 1–0 0–3 2–0 1–1
Inhulets Petrove 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1
Kolos Kovalivka 1–1 0–0 4–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2
FC Lviv 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–0 0–5
FC Mariupol 1–2
FC Mynai 3–2 0–4 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–3
FC Oleksandriya 2–2 4–1 4–3 1–0 4–1 0–0 0–2 0–2
Olimpik Donetsk 0–2 1–4 1–1 3–3 3–0 3–2 3–1 0–1
Rukh Lviv 4–1 0–2 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–1
Shakhtar Donetsk a 3–1 5–1 4–1 5–1 1–1 2–0 1–1
Vorskla Poltava 2–0 3–0 0–0 1–1 5–2
Zorya Luhansk 3–1 1–1 0–1 4–0 2–2 0–0
Updated to match(es) played on 13 December 2020. Source: UPL calendar
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Attendance

Only selected matches are held with spectators depending on the epidemiological situation in the respective location due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All such matches have attendance restrictions of 25% stadium capacity.[3]

The ranking is sorted by average attendance, while "Pos" column indicates position of each team in tournament standings.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
12 Rukh Lviv 14,846 7,953 2,952 4,949 +74.9%3
2 Vorskla Poltava 2,523 2,523 2,523 2,523 −35.8%†
9 Zorya Luhansk 2,482 2,482 2,482 2,482 −10.3%1
11 Mynai 2,106 2,106 2,106 2,016 +74.5%3
7 Oleksandriya 2,625 1,800 825 1,313 −23.1%†
5 Kolos Kovalivka 3,765 1,261 1,248 1,255 −55.2%2
4 Desna Chernihiv 1,897 1,300 597 949 −75.8%†
10 Inhulets Petrove 1,528 766 762 764 +4.1%1,3
13 Dnipro-1 700 700 700 700 −85.1%†
14 Lviv 253 253 253 253 −88.8%†
1 Dynamo Kyiv NA†
3 Shakhtar Donetsk NA1
6 Mariupol NA†
8 Olimpik Donetsk NA1
League total 32,370 7,953 253 1,904 −54.9%†

Updated to games played on 6 October 2020
Source: UA-Football, Footboom
Notes:
1: Team plays its matches outside of home city.
2: Team played last season outside of home city due to stadium reconstruction.
3: Team played last season in the First League.

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Player of the Month Coach of the Month Ref.
Player Club Coach Club
September 2020 Ruslan Stepanyuk Vorskla Poltava Yuriy Maksymov Vorskla Poltava [36]
October 2020 Vladyslav Kulach Vorskla Poltava Igor Jovićević SC Dnipro-1 [37]
November 2020 Vladyslav Kocherhin Zorya Luhansk Serhiy Lavrynenko Inhulets Petrove [38]
December 2020 Dmytro Ivanisenya Zorya Luhansk Ivan Fedyk Rukh Lviv [39]
February 2021
March 2021
April 2021
May 2021

Round awards
Round Player Coach
Player Club Reference Coach Club Reference
Round 1 Yevhen Volynets Kolos Kovalivka [40] Oleksandr Ryabokon Desna Chernihiv [41]
Round 2 Volodymyr Lysenko Kolos Kovalivka [42] Ihor Klymovskyi Olimpik Donetsk [43]
Round 3 Shahab Zahedi Olimpik Donetsk [44] Yuriy Maksymov Vorskla Poltava [45]
Round 4 Oleksandr Hladkyy Zorya Luhansk [46] Volodymyr Sharan FC Oleksandriya [47]
Round 5 Oleksiy Hutsuliak Desna Chernihiv [48] Ihor Klymovskyi Olimpik Donetsk [49]
Round 6 Viktor Kovalenko Shakhtar Donetsk [50] Igor Jovićević SC Dnipro-1 [51]
Round 7 Dmytro Riznyk Vorskla Poltava [52] Viktor Skrypnyk Zoria Luhansk [53]
Round 8 Viktor Tsyhankov Dynamo Kyiv [54] Vitaliy Shumskyi FC Lviv [55]
Round 9 Taras Stepanenko Shakhtar Donetsk [56] Ruslan Kostyshyn Kolos Kovalivka [57]
Round 10 Anatoliy Nuriyev FC Mynai [58] Yuriy Maksymov Vorskla Poltava [59]
Round 11 Benjamin Verbič Dynamo Kyiv [60] Serhiy Lavrynenko Inhulets Petrove [61]
Round 12 Artem Hromov Zoria Luhansk [62] Viktor Skrypnyk Zoria Luhansk [63]
Round 13 Valeriy Fedorchuk Rukh Lviv [64] Ivan Fedyk Rukh Lviv [65]
winter break
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Round 23
Round 24
Round 25
Round 26

See also

Notes

    References
    1. Official Logo. Ukrainian Premier League website.
    2. UAF Executive committee approved plan-calendar of the 2020/21 season (Виконком УАФ затвердив план-календар сезону 2020/21 років). Ukrainian Premier League. 12 August 2020
    3. Renewed documents regarding the possibility of holding matches with spectators (Оновлені документи щодо можливості проведення матчів із глядачами). Ukrainian Premier League. 10 September 2020
    4. Starting late as never before (Стартуємо пізно, як ніколи досі). Ukrainian Premier League. 18 August 2020
    5. Artur Malkin. The Ministry of Healthcare amended its documents in relation to possibly conduct games with spectators (МОЗ відкоригувало документи щодо можливості проведення матчів із глядачами). Footboom. 10 September 2020
    6. Vsevolod Mazur. In Ukraine prohibited to conduct any sports events with spectators, except for international competitions (В Украине запретили проводить спортивные мероприятия со зрителями, кроме международных соревнований). Sport Arena. 13 October 2020
    7. Artur Malkin. Sharan, Markevych, and Klymovskyi are against postponement of the UPL games due to coronavirus (Шаран, Маркевич и Климовский против переноса матчей УПЛ из-за коронавируса). Footboom. 10 September 2020
    8. There was approved the first half season calendar of the 2020–21 FavBet Liha (Затверджено календар першого кола Favbet Ліги 2020/21 років). Ukrainian Premier League. 10 August 2020
    9. Locations where completion is conducted (Місця проведення змагань). 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League regulations.
    10. Shakhtar and Dynamo will be sharing Olimpiyskiy NSC the next season (Шахтер и Динамо будут делить НСК Олимпийский в следующем сезоне). Sport Arena. 11 August 2020
    11. Viktoriya Kuranova. Shakhtar in Kyiv, Mariupol – away: where the UPL clubs will play home matches in 2020/21 season (Шахтар у Києві, Маріуполь – на виїзді: де клуби УПЛ гратимуть домашні матчі у сезоні 2020/21). TSN. 18 August 2020
    12. Match Inhulets – Dnipro-1 will take place at Dnipro-Arena (Матч "Інгулець" - "Дніпро-1" відбудеться на "Дніпро-Арені"). FC Inhulets Petrove. 18 August 2020
    13. Artur Malkin. There took place a session of the UAF Committee in certification of clubs to play in the 2020–21 seasons of the Premier or First leagues (Відбулося засідання Комітету з атестування УАФ щодо участі клубів у Прем’єр-лізі та першій лізі сезону-2020/2021 ). Footboom. 13 August 2020
    14. Vlad Vlasenko. The game Inhulets – Dnipro-1 will take place at Dnipro-Arena. Others home games will take place in Kropyvnytskyi (Матч Ингулец — Днепр-1 состоится на Днепр-Арене. Остальные домашние игры пройдут в Кропивницком). Sport Arena. 19 August 2020
    15. Vsevolod Mazur. Mariupol all its games of the first half of the 2020–21 FavBet Liha will play away (Мариуполь все матчи первого круга Favbet Лиги 2020/21 проведет на выезде). Sport Arena. 10 August 2020
    16. Stadium reconstruction continues! (Реконструкція стадіону триває!). FC Kolos Kovalivka.
    17. The Kolos Stadium was opened! (Стадіон «Колос» відкрито!). Ukrainian Premier League. 2 September 2020
    18. Kolos will play of their own stadium in the next UPL season (Колос будет выступать на своем стадионе в следующем сезоне УПЛ). Football.ua. 27 January 2020.
    19. "Kolos" will play its games of the Europe League at its stadium («Колос» будет играть матчи Лиги Европы на своем стадионе). Xsport. 1 August 2020
    20. Match Mynai – Dynamo will take place in Kyiv (Матч «Минай» - «Динамо» відбудеться в Києві). FC Dynamo Kyiv. 18 September 2020
    21. Sukhkenko, M. How Kopytko took over Veres and transformed it into Lviv (Як Копитко захопив Верес и перетворив його на Львів). Sport Arena. 23 May 2018
    22. "Олексій Михайличенко повернеться на посаду спортивного директора" [Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko will return to the position of Sports director] (in Ukrainian). Dynamo Kyiv. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
    23. "New coaching staff to prepare Dynamo for the new season". Dynamo Kyiv. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
    24. "Mircea Lucescu – FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach". FC Dynamo Kyiv. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    25. ""Олимпик" утвердил Климовского главным тренером, без приставки и.о." [Olimpik approved Klymovskyi as a head coach without prefix interim] (in Russian). Footboom. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
    26. "Александр Бабич и его штаб завершили работу в ФК Мариуполь" [Oleksandr Babych and his stuff finished their work in FC Mariupol] (in Russian). FC Mariupol. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
    27. "Остап Маркевич — главный тренер ФК Мариуполь" [Ostap Markevych is a head coach of FC Mariupol] (in Russian). FC Mariupol. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
    28. "Михайленко подав у відставку з посади головного тренера СК Дніпро-1" [Mykhaylenko resigned from the position of head coach of SC Dnipro-1] (in Ukrainian). Football24. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
    29. "Дякуємо, Дмитро Станіславовичу!" [Our gratitude to Dmytro Stanislavovych] (in Ukrainian). SC Dnipro-1. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
    30. "Ігор Йовічевич очолив «Дніпро-1»" [Igor Jovićević will lead Dnipro-1] (in Ukrainian). SC Dnipro-1. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
    31. "Георгій Цецадзе: «У будь-якої людини настає момент, коли краще піти геть»" [Giorgi Tsetsadze: Each person gets the moment when it's better to leave] (in Ukrainian). FC Lviv. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
    32. "До «Ворскли» команду готує Віталій Шумський" [Vitaliy Shumskyi to prepare the team for the fixture with Vorskla] (in Ukrainian). FC Lviv. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
    33. Defining of teams' places in competitions (Визначення місць команд у змаганнях). 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League regulations.
    34. Top scorers. Ukrainian Premier League.
    35. (in Ukrainian) Ковалець – найкращий серед асистентів Favbet Ліги. Ukrainian Premier League. 8 December 2020
    36. "Степанюк і Максимов — найкращі гравець і тренер місяця Favbet Ліги!".
    37. "Кулач і Йовічевіч — найкращі гравець і тренер місяця Favbet Ліги!".
    38. "Кочергін і Лавриненко — найкращі гравець і тренер місяця Favbet Ліги!".
    39. "Іванісеня та Федик — найкращі гравець і тренер місяця Favbet Ліги!".
    40. "Євгеній Волинець — найкращий гравець 1-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    41. "Олександр Рябоконь – найкращий тренер 1-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    42. "Володимир Лисенко — найкращий гравець 2-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    43. "Ігор Климовський – найкращий тренер 2-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    44. "Шахаб — найкращий гравець 3-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    45. "Юрій Максимов – найкращий тренер 3-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    46. "Олександр Гладкий — найкращий гравець 4-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    47. "Володимир Шаран – найкращий тренер 3-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    48. "Олексій Гуцуляк — найкращий гравець 5-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    49. "Ігор Климовський – найкращий тренер 5-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    50. "Віктор Коваленко — найкращий гравець 6-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    51. "Ігор Йовічевіч – найкращий тренер 6-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    52. "Дмитро Різник — найкращий гравець 7-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    53. "Віктор Скрипник — найкращий тренер 7-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    54. "Віктор Циганков — найкращий гравець 8-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    55. "Віталій Шумський – найкращий тренер 8-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    56. "Тарас Степаненко — найкращий гравець 9-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    57. "Руслан Костишин – найкращий тренер 9-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    58. "Анатолій Нурієв — найкращий гравець 10-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    59. "Юрій Максимов – найкращий тренер 10-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    60. "Беньямін Вербич — найкращий гравець 11-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    61. "Сергій Лавриненко – найкращий тренер 11-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    62. "Артем Громов — найкращий гравець 12-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    63. "Віктор Скрипник – найкращий тренер 12-го туру Favbet Ліги".
    64. "Валерій Федорчук — найкращий гравець 13-го туру Favbet Ліги!".
    65. "Іван Федик – найкращий тренер 13-го туру Favbet Ліги".
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