Football Wiki
Advertisement
Football Wiki
FavBet Liha (UPL)
2021-22
Ukrainian Premier League
Season information
Dates 24 July 2021–26 April 2022
Winners Title not awarded
Relegated Desna Chernihiv
Mariupol
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo Kyiv
Europa League Dnipro–1
Europa Conference League Zorya Luhansk
Vorskla Poltava
Season statistics
Matches played 143
Goals scored 381
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
 ← 2020–21
2022–23 → 

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.

The defending champions were the 16-time winners Dynamo Kyiv.

The competition was terminated at the UPL extraordinary general meeting on 26 April due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The league decided that it will not award a champion's title since the season was terminated early, yet the club's league standing would be used to determine qualification to clubs' continental 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 early termination of season in the league. 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 This confirmed that Desna Chernihiv and Mariupol had both withdrawn from the league for the following campaign due to damage and destruction in their respective cities and facilities because of the war.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.

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 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, attendance of football matches is limited and regulated by local health departments in each region.

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.

The second half of the season was expected to start on February 25 with the Round 19 game Mynai – Zorya but was suspended due to a full-scale Russian invasion earlier on February 24. Later the President of Ukraine announced a martial law until April 25 and all sports events were forced to be suspended. With the open hostilities continued, it was decided to cancel the season earlier than May 21.

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.

[]

  • 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)

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).

The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:

Rank Stadium Place Club Capacity Notes
1 NSC Olimpiyskiy Kyiv Dynamo Kyiv 70,050
Shakhtar Donetsk used as home ground during the season
2 Arena Lviv Lviv Rukh Lviv 34,915
FC Lviv
3 Dnipro-Arena Dnipro SC Dnipro-1 31,003
4 Butovsky Vorskla Stadium Poltava Vorskla Poltava 24,795
5 Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium Kyiv Olimpik Donetsk 16,873 used as home ground during the season
6 Volodymyr Boiko Stadium Mariupol FC Mariupol 12,680
7 Slavutych-Arena Zaporizhzhia Zorya Luhansk 12,000 used as home ground during the season
8 CSC Nika Stadium Oleksandriya FC Oleksandriya 7,000
9 Chernihiv Stadium Chernihiv Desna Chernihiv 5,500
10 Kolos Stadium Kovalivka Kolos Kovalivka 5,000

Personnel and sponsorship[]

Team President Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Desna Chernihiv Volodymyr Levin Flag of Ukraine Oleksandr Ryabokon Flag of Ukraine Vladyslav Ohirya Flag of United States Nike Parimatch
SC Dnipro-1 Yuriy Bereza Flag of Croatia Igor Jovićević Flag of Ukraine Serhiy Lohinov Flag of United States Nike
Dynamo Kyiv Ihor Surkis Flag of Romania Mircea Lucescu Flag of Ukraine Serhiy Sydorchuk Flag of United States New Balance A-Bank
Inhulets Petrove Oleksandr Povoroznyuk Flag of Ukraine Serhiy Lavrynenko Flag of Croatia Mladen Bartulović Flag of Spain Joma etg.ua
Kolos Kovalivka Andriy Zasukha Flag of Ukraine Ruslan Kostyshyn Flag of Ukraine Vitaliy Havrysh Flag of United States Nike Svitanok
FC Lviv Bohdan Kopytko Flag of Ukraine Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi Flag of Brazil Rafael Sabino Flag of Germany Jako Parimatch
FC Mariupol Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry Flag of Ukraine Ostap Markevych Flag of Ukraine Dmytro Myshnyov Flag of United States Nike Favorit Sport
FC Oleksandriya Serhiy Kuzmenko Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Pankiv Flag of United States Nike AhroVista
Olimpik Donetsk Vladyslav Helzin Flag of Ukraine Roman Sanzhar Flag of Ukraine Serhiy Politylo Flag of Spain Joma Parimatch
Rukh Lviv Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi Flag of Ukraine Ivan Fedyk Flag of Ukraine Yaroslav Martynyuk Flag of Germany Puma Grand Hotel
Shakhtar Donetsk Rinat Akhmetov Flag of Ukraine Andriy Pyatov Flag of United States Nike Parimatch
Vorskla Poltava Kostyantyn Zhevago Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Maksymov Flag of Ukraine Volodymyr Chesnakov Flag of United States Nike Ferrexpo
Zorya Luhansk Yevhen Heller Flag of Ukraine Viktor Skrypnyk Flag of Ukraine Mykyta Shevchenko Flag of United States Nike Favorite Sport

Managerial changes[]

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Table Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
Shakhtar Donetsk Flag of Portugal Luís Castro Mutual agreement 12 May 2021 Pre-season Flag of Italy Roberto De Zerbi 25 May 2021 Pre-season
Oleksandriya Flag of Ukraine Volodymyr Sharan 13 May 2021 Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Hura 18 May 2021
Mynai Flag of Ukraine Mykola Tsymbal Changed position 15 June 2021 Flag of Ukraine Vasyl Kobin 15 June 2021
Chornomorets Odesa Flag of Ukraine Oleksiy Antonov 23 June 2021 Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Moroz 23 June 2021
Rukh Lviv Flag of Ukraine Ivan Fedyk Mutual agreement 4 August 2021 14th Flag of Belarus Leonid Kuchuk 4 August 2021 14th
Lviv Flag of Ukraine Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi Resigned 25 August 2021 15th Flag of Ukraine Taras Chopyk (interim) 25 August 2021 15th
Kolos Kovalivka Flag of Ukraine Ruslan Kostyshyn Resigned 29 August 2021 11th Flag of Belarus Syarhey Kuznyatsow (interim) 29 August 2021 11th
Lviv Flag of Ukraine Taras Chopyk (interim) End of interim 6 September 2021 15th Flag of Belarus Oleg Dulub 6 September 2021 15th
Mynai Flag of Ukraine Vasyl Kobin Fired 29 September 2021 15th Flag of Ukraine Ihor Leonov 9 October 2021 15th
Kolos Kovalivka Flag of Belarus Syarhey Kuznyatsow (interim) Undisclosed November 2021 11th Flag of Ukraine Yaroslav Vyshnyak (interim) November 2021 11th
Flag of Ukraine Yaroslav Vyshnyak (interim) Made permanent 28 November 2021 10th Flag of Ukraine Yaroslav Vyshnyak 28 November 2021 10th
Mynai Flag of Ukraine Ihor Leonov Mutual agreement 16 December 2021 15th Flag of Ukraine Volodymyr Sharan 14 January 2022 15th
Chornomorets Odesa Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Moroz Undisclosed 30 December 2021 13th Flag of Ukraine Roman Hryhorchuk 30 December 2021 13th

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 to Champions League group stage
2 Dynamo Kyiv 18 14 3 1 47 9 +38 45 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
3 Dnipro-1 18 13 1 4 35 17 +18 40 Qualification to Europa League play-off round
4 Zorya Luhansk 18 11 3 4 37 19 +18 36 Qualification to Europa Conference League third qualifying round
5 Vorskla Poltava 18 9 6 3 30 18 +12 33 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
6 Oleksandriya 18 7 5 6 19 16 +3 26
7 Desna Chernihiv 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 18 2 2 14 21 44 −23 8 Membership suspended after season
Source: upl.ua
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).

Results[]

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

Home \ Away CHO DES DN1 DYN INH KOL LVI M25 MAR MYN OLK RUX SHA VER VOR ZOR
Chornomorets Odesa 0–1 0–3 1–6 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 4–3 0–3 0–1
Desna Chernihiv 3–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 3–3 1–1 1–0 0–4
Dnipro-1 3–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 3–1 2–0 1–0 5–1 0–4
Dynamo Kyiv 4–0 2–0 7–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 4–0 1–2 1–1
Inhulets Petrove 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 3–0 0–0 1–5
Kolos Kovalivka 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 0–1
Lviv 0–2 0–1 1–4 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 2–1
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv 3–2 1–2 0–2 4–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–6
Mariupol 2–3 1–2 0–3 2–3 0–1 1–2 0–2 0–5 3–4
Mynai 2–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 1–1
Oleksandriya 1–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–2 1–2 0–1
Rukh Lviv 0–2 1–0 2–0 2–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–1
Shakhtar Donetsk 4–1 2–0 a 2–1 6–1 2–0 1–2 2–0 4–1 6–1
Veres Rivne 0–3 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1
Vorskla Poltava 0–0 2–2 2–2 3–0 4–1 2–0 5–1 2–0 2–0 0–2
Zorya Luhansk 3–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–0
Updated to match(es) played on 12 December 2021. Source: UPL calendar
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics[]

Top goalscorers[]

As of 12 December 2021 (2021-12-12)

Rank Scorer Team Goals
(Pen.)
1 Flag of Ukraine Artem Dovbyk Dnipro-1 14 (3)
2 Flag of Ukraine Viktor Tsyhankov Dynamo Kyiv 11 (5)
3 Flag of Ukraine Vitaliy Buyalskyi Dynamo Kyiv 9 (1)
Flag of Brazil Tetê Shakhtar Donetsk 9 (1)
5 Flag of Luxembourg Olivier Thill Vorskla Poltava 8 (2)
6 Flag of Ukraine Denys Bezborodko Desna Chernihiv 7
Flag of Ukraine Denys Harmash Dynamo Kyiv 7
8 Flag of Ukraine Andriy Kulakov Mariupol 6
Flag of Iran Allahyar Sayyadmanesh Zorya Luhansk 6
Flag of Iran Shahab Zahedi Zorya Luhansk 6
Flag of Ukraine Ruslan Stepanyuk Vorskla Poltava 6
Flag of Burkina Faso Lassina Traoré Shakhtar Donetsk 6 (1)

Assists[]

As of 22 August 2021 (2021-08-22)

Rank Scorer Team Assists
1 Flag of Ukraine Vladyslav Kalitvintsev Desna Chernihiv 5
2 Flag of Luxembourg Olivier Thill Vorskla Poltava 4
Flag of Ukraine Yukhym Konoplya Shakhtar Donetsk 4
Flag of Ukraine Oleksandr Sklyar Vorskla Poltava 4
5 2 players 3

Clean sheets[]

As of 12 December 2021 (2021-12-12)

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Flag of Ukraine Bohdan Kohut Veres Rivne 9
2 Flag of Ukraine Heorhiy Bushchan Dynamo Kyiv 8
Flag of Ukraine Dmytro Matsapura Zorya Luhansk
4 Flag of Ukraine Oleh Bilyk Oleksandriya 7
Flag of Romania Valentin Cojocaru Dnipro-1
Flag of Ukraine Dmytro Riznyk Vorskla Poltava
7 Flag of Ukraine Yuriy Pankiv Rukh Lviv 5
Flag of Ukraine Anatoliy Trubin Shakhtar Donetsk
Flag of Ukraine Yevhen Volynets Kolos Kovalivka
8 2 players 4

Hat-tricks[]

Player For Against Result Date
Flag of Ukraine Vladyslav Kocherhin Zorya Luhansk Inhulets Petrove
5–1
2 August 2021
Flag of Iran Shahab Zahedi Zorya Luhansk Veres Rivne
3–0
7 November 2021

See also[]

  • 2021–22 Ukrainian First League
  • 2021–22 Ukrainian Second League
  • 2021–22 Ukrainian Football Amateur League
  • 2021–22 Ukrainian Cup

External links[]

Ukrainian Premier League seasons

2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12 · 2012–13 · 2013–14 · 2014–15 · 2015–16 · 2016–17 · 2017–18 · 2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 · 2024–25 ·

Template:2021–22 in Ukrainian football

202122 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues

Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus '21 '22 · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia '21 '22 · Faroe Islands '21 '22 · Finland '21 '22 · France · Georgia '21 '22 · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Hungary · Iceland '21 '22 · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan '21 '22 · Kosovo · Latvia '21 '22 · Lithuania '21 '22 · Luxembourg · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · North Macedonia · Northern Ireland · Norway '21 '22 · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland '21 '22 · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden '21 '22 · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales

Domestic cups

Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands '21 '22 · Finland '21 '22 · France · Georgia '21 '22 · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Hungary · Iceland '21 '22 · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan '21 '22 · Kosovo · Latvia '21 '22 · Liechtenstein · Lithuania '21 '22 · Luxembourg · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · North Macedonia · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland '21 '22 · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales

League cups

England · Iceland · Israel · Northern Ireland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland '22 · Scotland · Wales

Supercups

Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · France · Georgia · Germany · Iceland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Kosovo · Lithuania · Malta · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland '21 '22 · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Spain · Turkey · Ukraine

UEFA competitions
Champions League (qualifying phase and play-off round, group stage, knockout phase, Final) · Europa League (qualifying phase and play-off round, Champions Path, Main Path, group stage, knockout phase, Final) · Europa Conference League (qualifying phase and play-off round, Champions Path, Main Path, group stage, knockout phase, Final) · Super Cup
International competitions
2022 FIFA World Cup (qualification) · 2020–21 UEFA Nations League (League C relegation play-offs · Finals) · 2023 Euro Under-21 (qualification) · 2022 Euro Under-19 (qualification) · 2022 Euro Under-17 (qualification)
Advertisement