2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League
31st season of top-tier football league in Vyshcha Liha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League season, referred to as the VBet Liha for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st top-level football club competition since the fall of the Soviet Union and the 14th since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. On 1 July 2021, UPL announced that the new title sponsor for the next three years will be another bookmaking company, VBet.[3]
 Official logo[1] | |
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 July 2021 – 26 April 2022 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Champions | Title not awarded |
| Relegated | Desna Chernihiv Mariupol |
| Champions League | Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv |
| Europa League | Dnipro–1 |
| Europa Conference League | Zorya Luhansk Vorskla Poltava |
| Matches | 143 |
| Goals | 381 (2.66 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Artem Dovbyk (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | 7 goals Dynamo 7–0 Kolos (28 August 2021) |
| Biggest away win | 5 goals Mariupol 0–5 Shakhtar (18 September 2021) Metalist 1925 1–6 Zorya (31 October 2021) Chornomorets 1–6 Dynamo (19 November 2021) |
| Highest scoring | 7 goals 7 games |
| Longest winning run | 8 matches Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Longest unbeaten run | 15 matches Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Longest winless run | 17 matches Mynai |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches Mariupol Metalist 1925 |
| Highest attendance | 28,073 Dynamo v Shakhtar (3 October 2021) |
| Lowest attendance | 230 Inhulets v Kolos (18 September 2021)[a] |
| Total attendance | 480451[2] |
| Average attendance | 3533 |
← 2020–21 2022–23 →
All statistics correct as of 12 December 2021. | |
The defending champions were the 16-time winners Dynamo Kyiv.
The competition was abandoned due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4]
Preparation
The 2021–22 season expanded again to 16 teams as part of the league's expansion plan.
Due to the low-intensity war with Russia that had been ongoing since 2014, teams from the Donbas area were forced to play elsewhere.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance of football matches was limited and regulated by local health departments in each region.[5]
Because of a conflict between the president of Olimpik Donetsk Vladyslav Helzin and the Ukrainian Association of Football officials over a post-match incident that culminated in sanctions against the Olimpik's president, Helzin decided to voluntarily withdraw his football club from the Ukrainian Premier League and transfer away ownership of the club. The decision took place just a couple of weeks before the start of the new season, with the calendar already set. Both PFL and UPL called on emergency clubs' meetings to confirm changes and reinstate membership of the already relegated Mynai in the UPL and relegate Olimpik Donetsk to the second tier (First League) instead. Due to this, the Round 1 match between Dynamo and its visiting opponent was suspended until a later date.
Teams
This season, as it was announced earlier, the Ukrainian Premier League has been expanded to 16 teams, which includes 13 teams from the previous season and the top three teams from the 2020–21 Ukrainian First League.
Promoted teams
- Veres Rivne – the champion of the 2020–21 Ukrainian First League (return after a three-year absence)
- Chornomorets Odesa – runner-up of the 2020–21 Ukrainian First League (return after a two-year absence)
- Metalist 1925 Kharkiv – third place of the 2020–21 Ukrainian First League (debut, another club Metalist Kharkiv last competed in 2015–16)
Relegated teams
- Olimpik Donetsk – the 13th place team of the 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League (ending their seven-year stay in the top-flight)
Location map
Teams from a conflict zone (Shakhtar and Zorya) are playing their home games in different cities.
Stadiums
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).[6]
The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:
Notes
Personnel and sponsorship
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shakhtar Donetsk |  Luís Castro |
Mutual agreement | 12 May 2021[10] | Pre-season |  Roberto De Zerbi |
25 May 2021[11] | Pre-season |
| Oleksandriya |  Volodymyr Sharan |
13 May 2021[12] | Yuriy Hura |
18 May 2021[13] | |||
| Mynai | Mykola Tsymbal |
Changed position | 15 June 2021[14][15] | Vasyl Kobin |
15 June 2021[14][15] | ||
| Chornomorets Odesa | Oleksiy Antonov |
23 June 2021[16] | Yuriy Moroz |
23 June 2021[16] | |||
| Rukh Lviv | Ivan Fedyk |
Mutual agreement | 4 August 2021[17] | 14th |  Leonid Kuchuk |
4 August 2021[18] | 14th |
| Lviv | Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi |
Resigned | 25 August 2021[19] | 15th | Taras Chopyk (interim) |
25 August 2021[20][21] | 15th |
| Kolos Kovalivka | Ruslan Kostyshyn |
Resigned | 29 August 2021[22] | 11th | Syarhey Kuznyatsow (interim) |
29 August 2021[22] | 11th |
| Lviv | Taras Chopyk (interim) |
End of interim | 6 September 2021 | 15th | Oleg Dulub |
6 September 2021[23] | 15th |
| Mynai | Vasyl Kobin |
Fired | 29 September 2021[24] | 15th | Ihor Leonov |
9 October 2021[25] | 15th |
| Kolos Kovalivka | Syarhey Kuznyatsow (interim) |
Undisclosed | November 2021 | 11th | Yaroslav Vyshnyak (interim) |
November 2021[26] | 11th |
| Yaroslav Vyshnyak (interim) |
Made permanent | 28 November 2021 | 10th | Yaroslav Vyshnyak |
28 November 2021[27] | 10th | |
| Mynai | Ihor Leonov |
Mutual agreement | 16 December 2021[28] | 15th | Volodymyr Sharan |
14 January 2022[29] | 15th |
| Chornomorets Odesa | Yuriy Moroz |
Undisclosed | 30 December 2021[30] | 13th | Roman Hryhorchuk |
30 December 2021[31] | 13th |
Notes:
- In the UPL match protocols, Mykola Tsymbal remains the manager of Mynai despite the official club's announcement about return of Vasyl Kobin.
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 10 | +39 | 47 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 47 | 9 | +38 | 45 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Dnipro-1 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 17 | +18 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Zorya Luhansk | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 19 | +18 | 36 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Vorskla Poltava | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Oleksandriya | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 26 | |
| 7 | Desna Chernihiv[b] | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 25 | Membership suspended after season |
| 8 | Kolos Kovalivka | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 23 | −9 | 24 | |
| 9 | Veres Rivne | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 20 | −5 | 23 | |
| 10 | Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 17 | 29 | −12 | 19 | |
| 11 | Rukh Lviv | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 18 | |
| 12 | Lviv | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 30 | −16 | 17 | |
| 13 | Chornomorets Odesa | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 40 | −20 | 14 | |
| 14 | Inhulets Petrove | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 28 | −15 | 13 | |
| 15 | Mynai | 18 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 30 | −18 | 10 | |
| 16 | Mariupol[b] | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 21 | 44 | −23 | 8 | Membership suspended after season |
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).[33]
Notes:
- 6 games behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Desna Chernihiv and Mariupol confirmed that they cannot compete next season due to destroyed infrastructure and the difficult situation in their cities.[32]
Results
Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis.
Season statistics
Top goalscorersAs of 12 December 2021[update][34]
|
AssistsAs of 22 August 2021[update][35][36]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clean sheets
As of 12 December 2021[update][37]
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vladyslav Kocherhin |
Zorya Luhansk | Inhulets Petrove | 5–1 |
2 August 2021[38] |
 Shahab Zahedi |
Zorya Luhansk | Veres Rivne | 3–0 |
7 November 2021[39] |
Awards
Monthly awards
| Month | Player of the Month | Coach of the Month | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Coach | Club | ||
| August 2021 | Artem Dovbyk |
Dnipro-1 | Yuriy Virt |
Veres Rivne | [40] |
| September 2021 | Denys Harmash |
Dynamo Kyiv | Viktor Skrypnyk |
Zorya Luhansk | [41] |
| October 2021 | Denys Harmash |
Dynamo Kyiv | Yuriy Maksymov |
Vorskla Poltava | [42] |
| November 2021 | Artem Dovbyk |
Dnipro-1 | Viktor Skrypnyk |
Zorya Luhansk | [43] |
Round awards
Abandonment
The second half of the season was expected to start on 25 February with the 19th matchday game Mynai vs Zorya Luhansk. However, on 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, declared martial law nationwide. As a consequence, the league was immediately suspended.[80]
This season was abandoned on 26 April 2022. At the UPL extraordinary general meeting, the league decided that the season would be prematurely finished, and that it would not award a championship title for the season, but the league standings at the time would be used to determine qualification to UEFA competitions.
The meeting was also attended by a number of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) officials, among which was the first vice-president Oleh Protasov. The UPL general meeting decision was submitted to UAF Executive Committee for approval. On 2 May 2022, the UAF Executive Committee confirmed the premature finish to the seadon. A further EGM was held on May 27 to decide promotion and relegation. This confirmed that Desna Chernihiv and Mariupol had both withdrawn from the league for the following campaign due to the damage and destruction in their respective cities and facilities because of the war. Metalist Kharkiv and Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, who were the top two teams in the First League at the time of abandonment, were selected to be promoted by UAF.