2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League


The 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League season is the 28th top level football club competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union and the eleventh since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League.
The tournament started on 21 July 2018 with the competition set to end on 25 May 2019. The league took its winter intermission after Round 18 on 8 December 2018 and resumed its competition of the Championship with Round 19 on 16 February 2019. The first stage ended with Round 22 games on 17 March 2019. The draw for the second stage was announced for 5 March 2019.
The defending champion is the 11-times winner Shakhtar Donetsk.

Teams

Promoted teams

On completion of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League season, Veres Rivne, who had moved their operations to Lviv during the season announced the merging with FC Lviv who competed in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League and retain their name. This is the first time of such "swap" that has occurred with a team from the Ukrainian Premier League. Its certification the club passed on 5 June 2018. Along with that the FFU certification committee is consulting with the UEFA in regards of the "clubs swap". On 6 June 2018, it was announced that it is too early speculate composition of the league for the next season as the UEFA will make its final decision by allowing or not participation of FC Lviv. It is possible that some of already relegated clubs might be given a second chance if UEFA will insist on impossibility of the Lviv-Veres team swap. On 12 June 2018, Ukrainian Premier League updated its website removing any mentioning of NK Veres Rivne ever competing in the league and its record being awarded to FC Lviv. Few days later the league recovered the Veres' record. More to the story, in interview to "Tribuna" a head of the FFU Attestation Committee Viktor Bezsmernyi explained that it was Veres that received certificate for the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League and then the club changed its name. At same time the old-new president of Veres Khakhlyov demonstrated the club's certificate for the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second League.

Withdrawn teams

On 22 June 2018, the UPL published an official announcement about situation with FC Poltava, and while shocked with the club's decision the league is confirming that the club is withdrawing and that the league will be seeking its replacement. Following withdrawal of FC Poltava, a crisis has seemed to ripen in the league as there is no other team can replace Poltava due to financing or infrastructure issues. Based on the voting conducted among the UPL members, on 26 June 2018, the league picked FC Chornomorets Odesa for the Poltava's replacement and submitted its selection for approval by the FFU Executive Committee. On 3 July 2018, Chornomorets was officially approved by FFU as 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League participant.

Location map

The following displays the location of teams.

Stadiums

Three teams play their matches outside of home towns. The minimum threshold for the stadium's capacity in the UPL is 5,000.
The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:
RankStadiumPlaceClubCapacityNotes
1NSC OlimpiyskiyKyivDynamo Kyiv70,050
2OSC MetalistKharkivShakhtar Donetsk40,003used as home ground during the season.
3Arena LvivLvivFC Lviv34,915
4Chornomorets StadiumOdesaChornomorets Odesa34,164
5Ukraina StadiumLvivKarpaty Lviv
FC Lviv
28,051
used in Round 5, home ground since Round 19
6Vorskla StadiumPoltavaVorskla Poltava24,795
7Lobanovsky Dynamo StadiumKyivOlimpik Donetsk
Arsenal Kyiv
16,873used as home ground during the season.
8Volodymyr Boiko StadiumMariupolFC Mariupol12,680
9Chernihiv StadiumChernihivDesna Chernihiv12,060
10Slavutych-ArenaZaporizhiaZorya Luhansk12,000used as home ground during the season.
11CSC Nika StadiumOleksandriyaFC Oleksandriya7,000

Notes:

Personnel and sponsorship

Notes:

Managerial changes

Notes:

First stage

First stage table

First stage results

Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.
Notes:

First stage positions by round

The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition played chronologically.

Championship round

Championship round table

Championship round results

Championship round positions by round

Relegation round

Relegation round table

Relegation round results

Relegation round positions by round

Relegation play-offs

Teams that placed 10th and 11th in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League play two-leg play-off with the second and third teams of the 2018–19 Ukrainian First League. The draw for play-offs took place on 24 May 2019 and the games will be played on 4 and 8 June 2019.

First leg

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Second leg

Kolos Kovalivka won 2–0 on aggregate and were promoted to the 2019–20 Ukrainian Premier League. Chornomorets Odesa were relegated to the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League
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Karpaty Lviv won 3–0 on aggregate and retained their spot in the 2019–20 Ukrainian Premier League. Volyn Lutsk remained in the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League
Due to fan violence at the game and attack on referee, the original score 1–3 was scratched and replaced with technical score 0–3 loss to Volyn and win for Karpaty. Additionally, the Lutsk department of police started criminal proceedings on the fact of intentional damage to property during the game by the Karpaty fans.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

RankScorerTeamGoals
1 Júnior MoraesShakhtar Donetsk19
2 Viktor TsyhankovDynamo Kyiv18
3 Maryan ShvedKarpaty Lviv14
4 Yevhen BanadaFC Oleksandriya9
4 BrunoFC Lviv9
4 MarlosShakhtar Donetsk9
4 Serhiy VakulenkoArsenal Kyiv9
8 Maksym DehtyarovOlimpik Donetsk8
8 Oleksandr ZubkovFC Mariupol8
8 Oleksandr KaravayevZorya Luhansk8
8 Serhiy MyakushkoKarpaty Lviv8

Notes:

Top assistants

RankAssistantTeamAssists
1 TaisonShakhtar Donetsk12
2 Viktor TsyhankovDynamo Kyiv11
3 IsmailyShakhtar Donetsk7
3 Júnior MoraesShakhtar Donetsk7
3 Alan PatrickShakhtar Donetsk7
6 Oleksandr KaravayevZorya Luhansk5
6 Serhiy MyakushkoKarpaty Lviv5

Hat-tricks (pokers)

Player scored goals if more than 3
Notes:

Monthly awards

Round awards

Source:

The 2018 Coach of the Year award

The best coaches were identified by the All-Ukrainian Football Coaches Association.
PlaceCoachTeamMark
1 Volodymyr SharanFC Oleksandriya4.38
2 Paulo FonsecaShakhtar Donetsk4.24
3 Alyaksandr KhatskevichDynamo Kyiv4.16
4 Yuriy BakalovFC Lviv4.06
5 Yuriy VernydubZorya Luhansk4.00

Season awards

The laureates of the 2018–19 UPL season were:
NumberRegionTeam
3Mariupol, Olimpik and Shakhtar
2Dynamo and Arsenal
2Karpaty and Lviv
1Desna
1Oleksandriya
1Zorya
1Chornomorets
1Vorskla
1--
1--

NumberRegionTeam
3Dynamo, Olimpik and Arsenal
2Karpaty and Lviv
1Desna
1Mariupol
1Shakhtar
1Oleksandriya
1Zorya
1Chornomorets
1Vorskla
1--
1--