Championship vs. survival: what Ukrainian players will fight for in European leagues

Only in Europe more than 1300 Ukrainians play at different levels. These statistics for mid-August are given by Transfermarkt. From the top APL and La Liga to the Extraclassa and Croatian National League and even Czech or Estonian championships. Ukrainians this year remain popular on the continent, as evidenced by the transfers of the same Dovbik and Mogov. OBOZ.UA tells the most interesting about Ukrainians in European leagues and what they will fight for in their clubs.

England

Only England (not all of Britain) is the most valuable for money representation of Ukraine in Europe, 145 million for all. Regarding the APL we talked in detail in a separate text: there are 5 players who together are worth 143 million. If everyone stays in place, the tasks are clear: to prevent Manchester City and Liverpool from fighting for medals on their own, and also - not to give their places to Leicester.

Rusin has a more interesting task: his Sunderland side were a mid-table side in the Championship last season; they picked up 56 points in a frantic 46-game run, but were only 6 points clear of the relegation zone. This year, the challenge hasn't changed - we need to cling on for wins. Things got a lot easier in the week, the Cats crashed out of the English League Cup in the first round, losing to Preston. Nazaryi came into the starting lineup and played 80 minutes, but didn't score. Forward the previous two seasons was not noticeable at the club and is still losing competition to the main striker "Sunderland" Clark. The coach also gives more advantages to Aushish and Mandlou. Rusin needs more commitment both in training and in those rare moments when he does play.

Poland

Second in the number of Ukrainian legionnaires, Poland has recruited 270 of our players and there are several players from different national teams. Ekstraklasa has ten representatives, the most famous are Hlan, Kochergin, Vyunnik, Matsenko, Tsarenko, Buletsa. The majority took Legia, which has lost three consecutive gold medals. 6 Ukrainians pursue the goal... at least to rise to the middle of the table! The team has been doing badly since the beginning of the season, only in the LC were able to make it to the playoffs. So also "Shlensk" - won medals, but went on a rampage in the Eurocups with three suspensions and no longer participates (Matsenko played a full match). Last season, Jagiellonia surprised everyone by suddenly and for the first time ever winning the Polish championship. That's exactly who will be that unexpected opponent and the greatest challenge.

Italy

We also told you about Italy: there are three of us in the elite. Dovbik's task is mainly European: Roma under De Rossi shows an interesting game, but has not yet reached the conditions of a possible champion (especially when the opponents are modern Milan, Inter and Juventus). Kovalenko and Malinovskiy remain in their respective teams, but have not been announced as close to starting players. Serie A may have Shaparenko, Vanat and Zinchenko, with the transfer window still open. And there are four more Ukrainians in Serie D, there is the fact of fighting for the rise to Division C.

Portugal

The only Portuguese Ukrainian in the Premiership, and now the main goalkeeper of the national team, Trubin passes as the main persona of Benfica. The first number one played well during the friendlies, but already in the first league match he got the whole bag - a failed performance against Famalican. The task is also clear: the Portuguese grandee must become stronger than Porto and Sporting to finally get their 39th championship and improve their record of victories.

Spain

The Spanish representation of Ukrainians is getting smaller: already minus one in La Liga, there are only two left. Lunin and Tsygankov have every opportunity to take more medals. But if they stay - you can read here why. There is a good chance that in this championship only one instead of two will appear on the field, so Girona matches will get the advantage with our viewers. Still in the Pyrenees play 19 Ukrainians at different levels, there are representatives in the third strongest Primera.

France

This year it makes sense to watch Ligue 1 - the Ukrainian Sobol has every chance to get into the basis of Strasbourg more often. Last season, the team almost fell out of the elite, so they urgently changed the coach - Liam Rosenior became the head. The 40-year-old Englishman was snatched from "Hull" for three years. The off-season was phenomenal: we did not win any of the 8 matches against not too strong opponents, 6 lost. A good sign for us - Sobol had a lot of playing time. It looks like his endless period of loan is over and now it's time to play with the best teams in France. The 29-year-old defender is one of the few Ukrainian representatives in this country, the closest player in the National Championship.

Germany

Here comes the biggest league by the number of Ukrainians - as many as 441 players! All of them are scattered in different structures and leagues: from the highest Bundesliga to the Third or even Berlin (6th in rank). Too bad there's only one in the Bundesliga so far, the traitor Ordetz. His Bochum won the right to be among the best and did not go for relegation, so this season will again try to break away from the last place. Then in the Third League we find Boris Taschi: although the striker is not very productive as for a weak tournament, he remains a staple for the Erzebirge team, collecting 30+ appearances, he has already played and scored this season. So, if you can find the broadcast, you can cheer on a club that is trying to return to the Second Bundesliga for the third year.