The latest European cup day for our teams started with a cold shower: all three teams found themselves trailing 0:1 right from the start. Not all matches continued in such a one-sided manner, but there were few pleasant moments throughout the day. The champion attempted to summarize the impressions.

21 August

• Maccabi (Tel Aviv) – Dynamo 3:1
• Shakhtar – Servette 1:1
• Polissya - Fiorentina 0:3

Dynamo: A Show Under the Rain with Tragicomedy

The match in Tel Aviv was played under pouring rain and delayed due to lightning. The field quickly sped up the ball, with attacks coming one after another. At the start, the Kyiv team looked helpless, and only thanks to Neshcheret did the score not become disastrous. Voloshyn equalized, but after Vyvcharenko's red card, everything fell apart—Maccabi calmly finished the job. Ahead lies a return match where two goals need to be overturned. The problem is that Dynamo currently does not resemble a combat-ready team.

Shakhtar: Total Dominance Without Victory

"The Miners" once again dropped points due to poor finishing. Despite having a sevenfold advantage in chances against Servette (23 shots – 1 goal), they could not secure a win. Injuries to key players and the absence of a true striker are crippling the team. The only goal came from a corner kick, while the wingers generated little impact. It will be tougher in Geneva, and elimination by such an opponent would be a serious blow.

Polissya: A Reality Check

The debut in Europe turned into a lesson. Fiorentina immediately showcased the difference in class: Kyn opened the scoring, and the Italians even in the minority defeated the hosts 0:3. If it weren't for the red card shown to the guests, the score could have been historically humiliating. Polissya has come a long way from lower leagues to the UPL and Europe, but facing a top opponent revealed a chasm between Ukrainian mid-tier teams and serious football.