2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League

The 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 30th top-level football club competition since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 13th since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League.

FavBet Liha (UPL)

Official logo[1]
Season	2020–21
Dates	21 August 2020 – 9 May 2021[2][3] (winter break 13 December 2020 – 13 February 2021)
Champions	Dynamo Kyiv 16th Ukrainian league title 29th domestic league title
Relegated	Olimpik
Champions League	Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk
Europa League	Zorya Luhansk
Europa Conference League	Kolos Kovalivka Vorskla Poltava
Matches played	182
Goals scored	481 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	15 – Vladyslav Kulach (Vorskla Poltava)
Biggest home win	5 – Dynamo 5–0 Inhulets (Round 23)
Biggest away win	5 – Lviv 0–5 Zorya (Round 4)
Highest scoring	7 – Vorskla 5–2 Rukh (Round 1), Oleksandriya 4–3 Inhulets (Round 6), Mariupol 4–3 Inhulets (Round 20)
Highest attendance	7,953 – Rukh 1–1 Shakhtar (Round 2)[a]
Total attendance	106713[a]
Average attendance	1694[a]
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 9 May 2021 All matches with spectators have attendance restrictions of 25% stadium capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] .

The 13-time winner Shakhtar Donetsk were the four-time defending champions. On 25 April 2021, Dynamo Kyiv won the record-extending 16th title with three matches remaining, after the victory over Inhulets Petrove in the Round 23 home game.^[5]

The season started on 21 August 2020 and was initially set to end on 15 May 2021.^[2] On 7 April 2021 it was announced that most of clubs voted to end competitions a week early on 9 May 2021.^[3][6]

Summary

This season was the first since the 2015–16, when the league consisted 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.^[7]

A season, that usually starts in July, was postponed for a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Ukraine. From 10 September^[8] to 13 October 2020, attendance restrictions were lifted and stadiums were allowed some spectators not to exceed about 25% of stadium capacity.^[9]

At least four managers of the UPL openly expressed their opinion not to postpone any games due to the COVID-19 cases.^[10] 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 got 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.^[11]

Promoted teams

• FC Mynai – the champion of the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League (debut)
• Rukh Lviv – runner-up of the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League (debut)
• Inhulets Petrove – third place of the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League (debut)

Location map

The following displays the location of teams.

Kyiv

Kyiv teams :
Dynamo
Olimpik
Shakhtar

Donetsk

Donetsk teams :
Olimpik
Shakhtar

Desna

Dnipro-1

Inhulets

Inhulets

Kolos

Mariupol

Mynai

Oleksandriya

Lviv

Lviv teams :
Lviv
Rukh

Zorya

Vorskla

Zorya

Home venues of teams in the 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League.
Teams in italics are from a conflict zone of the War in Donbas 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).^[12]

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[13]
			FC Mynai		used as home ground in round 4
2	OSC Metalist	Kharkiv	FC Lviv	40,003	used as home ground in round 19
			FC Mariupol		used as home ground in rounds 20, 22, 23
3	Arena Lviv	Lviv	Rukh Lviv	34,915	[14]
			FC Lviv
4	Dnipro-Arena	Dnipro	SC Dnipro-1	31,003	[Note INH–DN1]
			Inhulets Petrove		used as home ground in round 1
5	Ukraina Stadium	Lviv	FC Lviv	28,051	used as home ground in rounds 1-4
6	Butovsky Vorskla Stadium	Poltava	Vorskla Poltava	24,795
			Inhulets Petrove		used as home ground in round 15
7	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium	Kyiv	Olimpik Donetsk	16,873	used as home ground during the season
			FC Mariupol		used as home ground in round 12
			Dynamo Kyiv		used as home ground in rounds 13, 14
			Kolos Kovalivka		used as home ground in round 14[15]
			Desna Chernihiv		used as home ground in round 15, 16[16]
8	Zirka Stadium	Kropyvnytskyi	Inhulets Petrove	14,628	used as home ground during the season[17][18][19][Note INH–DN1]
9	Volodymyr Boiko Stadium	Mariupol	FC Mariupol	12,680	Mariupol returned to home stadium in round 19 due to renovations during the first half[20]
10	Avanhard Stadium	Lutsk	FC Lviv	12,080	used as home ground in round 1
11	Avanhard Stadium	Uzhhorod	FC Mynai	12,000	used as home ground during the season[Note MYN–DYN]
12	Slavutych-Arena	Zaporizhzhia	Zorya Luhansk	12,000	used as home ground during the season
			FC Mariupol		used as home ground in rounds 14, 15
13	CSC Nika Stadium	Oleksandriya	FC Oleksandriya	7,000
14	Chernihiv Stadium	Chernihiv	Desna Chernihiv	5,500
			Olimpik Donetsk		used as home ground in round 10, 24
15	Obolon Arena	Kyiv	Desna Chernihiv	5,100	used as home ground in round 9
16	Kolos Stadium	Kovalivka	Kolos Kovalivka	5,000[21]	Opened before Round 2[22][23][24]
17	Skif Stadium	Lviv	Rukh Lviv	3,742	used as home ground in round 17

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.^[17][19] 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. The game Dnipro-1 – Inulets did not take place in Kropyvnytskyi as it was planned earlier and without additional announcements and/or explanation was also played in Dnipro.^[25]
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.^[26] On March 5, 2021 it was decided that the game of Round 17 also will be played in Kyiv due to supposedly the epidemiological situation in Zakarpattia Oblast.^[27]

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	A-Bank
Inhulets Petrove	Oleksandr Povoroznyuk	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Mladen Bartulović	Joma	etg.ua
Kolos Kovalivka	Andriy Zasukha	Ruslan Kostyshyn	Vitaliy Havrysh	Nike	Svitanok
FC Lviv	Bohdan Kopytko[28]	Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi	Rafael Sabino	Jako	Parimatch
FC Mariupol	Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry	Ostap Markevych	Dmytro Myshnyov	Nike	Favorite Sport
FC Mynai	Valeriy Peresolyak	Mykola Tsymbal	Andrey Popovich	Nike	FavBet
FC Oleksandriya	Serhiy Kuzmenko	Volodymyr Sharan	Yuriy Pankiv	Nike	AhroVista
Olimpik Donetsk	Vladyslav Helzin	Roman Sanzhar	Serhiy Politylo	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	Favorite 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[29]	20 July 2020[30]	Pre-season	Mircea Lucescu	23 July 2020[31]	Pre-season
Olimpik Donetsk	Ihor Klymovskyi (interim)	Made permanent	20 July 2020[32]		Ihor Klymovskyi	20 July 2020[32]
FC Mariupol	Oleksandr Babych	End of contract	30 July 2020[33]		Ostap Markevych	3 August 2020[34]
SC Dnipro-1	Dmytro Mykhaylenko	Resigned[35]	18 September 2020[36]	11th	Igor Jovićević	22 September 2020[37]	11th
FC Lviv	Giorgi Tsetsadze	Resigned	24 October 2020[38]	14th	Vitaliy Shumskyi (interim)	28 October 2020[39]	14th
Olimpik Donetsk	Ihor Klymovskyi	Mutual consent	25 February 2021[40]	8th	Yuriy Kalitvintsev	25 February 2021[41]	8th
FC Lviv	Vitaliy Shumskyi (interim)	Mutual consent	1 March 2021[42]	14th	Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi	2 March 2021[43]	14th
FC Mynai	Vasyl Kobin	Resigned	24 March 2021[44]	13th	Mykola Tsymbal	26 March 2021[45]	13th
Olimpik Donetsk	Yuriy Kalitvintsev	Mutual consent	3 May 2021[46]	13th	Roman Sanzhar	4 May 2021[47]	13th

League table

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dynamo Kyiv (C)	26	20	5	1	59	15	+44	65	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	26	16	6	4	54	19	+35	54	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	Zorya Luhansk	26	15	5	6	44	22	+22	50	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
4	Kolos Kovalivka	26	10	11	5	36	26	+10	41	Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round
5	Vorskla Poltava	26	11	8	7	37	30	+7	41	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
6	Desna Chernihiv	26	10	8	8	38	32	+6	38
7	SC Dnipro-1	26	8	6	12	36	38	−2	30
8	FC Lviv	26	8	5	13	25	51	−26	29[a]
9	FC Oleksandriya	26	8	5	13	33	37	−4	29[a]
10	Rukh Lviv	26	6	10	10	27	39	−12	28
11	FC Mariupol	26	6	8	12	27	41	−14	26[b]
12	Inhulets Petrove	26	5	11	10	24	39	−15	26[b]
13	Olimpik Donetsk (R)	26	6	4	16	28	48	−20	22	Relegation to Ukrainian First League
14	FC Mynai	26	4	6	16	16	47	−31	18	Readmitted

Source: Ukrainian Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head higher number of goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Higher number of goals scored; 7) Draw or "Golden match" if two teams tied for title (Article 22, paragraph 3).^[48]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Head-to-head goal difference: Lviv +1, Oleksandriya -1
2. Head-to-head points: Mariupol 4, Inhulets 1

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		0–2	1–1	3–0	2–2	0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	2–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	3–1
SC Dnipro-1	2–0		1–2	2–0	0–2	5–1	1–2	3–0	0–0	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–2	0–1
Dynamo Kyiv	0–0	2–0		5–0	2–2	3–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	0–3	2–0	1–1
Inhulets Petrove	1–1	1–1	0–2		0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–3[a]	2–2	1–1
Kolos Kovalivka	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–0		4–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	3–0	1–0
FC Lviv	1–0	1–3	1–4	1–1	0–2		1–3	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–0	0–5
FC Mariupol	4–1	2–2	1–2	4–3	1–4	1–2		0–0	0–1	1–1	0–3	0–3	0–1	0–1
FC Mynai	3–1	3–2	0–4	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–1		1–0	2–1	0–0	0–4	1–2	0–3
FC Oleksandriya	2–2	4–1	1–2	4–3	0–2	1–0	4–1	3–0		2–0	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–2
Olimpik Donetsk	0–2	0–2	1–4	0–3	1–2	1–1	3–3	3–0	3–2		3–1	0–1	0–1	2–1
Rukh Lviv	0–4	4–1	0–2	2–2	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	3–0		1–1	1–1	0–2
Shakhtar Donetsk	4–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	5–1	4–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	2–0		1–1	0–1
Vorskla Poltava	1–1	0–1	1–5	2–0	3–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	3–0	5–2	0–2		4–2
Zorya Luhansk	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	4–0	2–2	0–0

Source: UPL calendar
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. In accordance with the UAF CDC decision of 12 December 2020 decision [it was decided that] FC Inhulets Petrove have been handed a 0:3 forfeit defeat, and FC Shakhtar Donetsk have been handed a 3:0 win.^[49]

Season statistics

Top goalscorers As of 9 May 2021[update][50] Rank Scorer Team Goals (Pen.) 1 Vladyslav Kulach Vorskla Poltava 15 (5) 2 Viktor Tsyhankov Dynamo Kyiv 12 (4) 3 Shahab Zahedi Olimpik / Zorya 10 (2) Anatoliy Nuriyev FC Mynai 10 (6) 5 Oleksandr Hladkyy Zorya Luhansk 9 Manor Solomon Shakhtar Donetsk 9 Andriy Totovytskyi Desna Chernihiv 9 (2) 8 Artem Bondarenko FC Mariupol 8 (3) 9 Ruslan Stepanyuk Vorskla Poltava 7 Mario Ćuže SC Dnipro-1 7 (1) Pylyp Budkivskyi Desna Chernihiv 7 (2) Mladen Bartulović Inhulets Petrove 7 (5)

Assists As of 9 May 2021[update][51] Rank Scorer Team Assists 1 Alan Patrick Shakhtar Donetsk 8 2 Oleksiy Hutsuliak Desna Chernihiv 7 3 Andriy Bohdanov Kolos Kovalivka 6 Frane Čirjak FC Lviv 6 Dodô Shakhtar Donetsk 6 Vladyslav Kabayev Zorya Luhansk 6 Vladyslav Kalitvintsev Desna Chernihiv 6 Kyrylo Kovalets FC Oleksandriya 6 Oleksandr Pikhalyonok SC Dnipro-1 6

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Artem Bondarenko	FC Mariupol	Inhulets Petrove	4–3	3 April 2021[52]
Vladyslav Kulach	Vorksla Poltava	Zorya Luhansk	4–2	17 April 2021[53]
Vitaliy Buyalskyi	Dynamo Kyiv	Vorskla Poltava	5–1	1 May 2021[54]

  Away win

  Home win

  Draw

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	[55]
October 2020	Vladyslav Kulach	Vorskla Poltava	Igor Jovićević	SC Dnipro-1	[56]
November 2020	Vladyslav Kocherhin	Zorya Luhansk	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Inhulets Petrove	[57]
December 2020	Dmytro Ivanisenya	Zorya Luhansk	Ivan Fedyk	Rukh Lviv	[58]
February 2021	Allahyar Sayyadmanesh	Zorya Luhansk	Viktor Skrypnyk	Zorya Luhansk	[59]
March 2021	China	FC Lviv	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[60]
April 2021	Illya Zabarnyi	Dynamo Kyiv	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[61]
May 2021	Yehor Nazaryna	Zorya Luhansk	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[62]

Round awards

Round	Player			Coach
	Player	Club	Reference	Coach	Club	Reference
Round 1	Yevhen Volynets	Kolos Kovalivka	[63]	Oleksandr Ryabokon	Desna Chernihiv	[64]
Round 2	Volodymyr Lysenko	Kolos Kovalivka	[65]	Ihor Klymovskyi	Olimpik Donetsk	[66]
Round 3	Shahab Zahedi	Olimpik Donetsk	[67]	Yuriy Maksymov	Vorskla Poltava	[68]
Round 4	Oleksandr Hladkyi	Zorya Luhansk	[69]	Volodymyr Sharan	FC Oleksandriya	[70]
Round 5	Oleksiy Hutsulyak	Desna Chernihiv	[71]	Ihor Klymovskyi	Olimpik Donetsk	[72]
Round 6	Viktor Kovalenko	Shakhtar Donetsk	[73]	Igor Jovićević	SC Dnipro-1	[74]
Round 7	Dmytro Riznyk	Vorskla Poltava	[75]	Viktor Skrypnyk	Zorya Luhansk	[76]
Round 8	Viktor Tsyhankov	Dynamo Kyiv	[77]	Vitaliy Shumskyi	FC Lviv	[78]
Round 9	Taras Stepanenko	Shakhtar Donetsk	[79]	Ruslan Kostyshyn	Kolos Kovalivka	[80]
Round 10	Anatoliy Nuriyev	FC Mynai	[81]	Yuriy Maksymov	Vorskla Poltava	[82]
Round 11	Benjamin Verbič	Dynamo Kyiv	[83]	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Inhulets Petrove	[84]
Round 12	Artem Hromov	Zorya Luhansk	[85]	Viktor Skrypnyk	Zorya Luhansk	[86]
Round 13	Valeriy Fedorchuk	Rukh Lviv	[87]	Ivan Fedyk	Rukh Lviv	[88]
winter break
Round 14	Oleksandr Hladkyy	Zorya Luhansk	[89]	Vitaliy Shumskyi	FC Lviv	[90]
Round 15	Pavlo Orikhovskyi	Kolos Kovalivka	[91]	Igor Jovićević	SC Dnipro-1	[92]
Round 16	Allahyar Sayyadmanesh	Zorya Luhansk	[93]	Viktor Skrypnyk	Zorya Luhansk	[94]
Round 17	Oleksandr Hladkyy	Zorya Luhansk	[95]	Oleksandr Ryabokon	Desna Chernihiv	[96]
Round 18	Serhiy Sydorchuk	Dynamo Kyiv	[97]	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[98]
Round 19	China	FC Lviv	[99]	Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi	FC Lviv	[100]
Round 20	Artem Bondarenko	FC Mariupol	[101]	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[102]
Round 21	Andriy Totovytskyi	Desna Chernihiv	[103]	Oleksandr Ryabokon	Desna Chernihiv	[104]
Round 22	Vladyslav Kulach	Vorskla Poltava	[105]	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[106]
Round 23	Illya Zabarnyi	Dynamo Kyiv	[107]	Volodymyr Sharan	FC Oleksandriya	[108]
Round 24	Vitaliy Buyalskyi	Dynamo Kyiv	[109]	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Inhulets Petrove	[110]
Round 25	Andriy Boryachuk	Rukh Lviv	[111]	Viktor Skrypnyk	Zorya Luhansk	[112]
Round 26	Danylo Sikan	FC Mariupol	[113]	Mircea Lucescu	Dynamo Kyiv	[114]

See also

• 2020–21 Ukrainian First League
• 2020–21 Ukrainian Second League
• 2020–21 Ukrainian Football Amateur League
• 2020–21 Ukrainian Cup
• List of Ukrainian football transfers summer 2020
• List of Ukrainian football transfers winter 2020–21

Notes