Game Day. "Metalist 1925" - "Kryvbas"

February 21, 2025. Zhytomyr, "Central City Stadium". 17th round of the UPL. The match starts at 15:30

Referee - Mykola Balakin (Kyiv region)

Referee assistants - Oleksandr Berkut (Sumy) and Viktor Matyash (Donetsk region)

Fourth official - Oleg Kohut (Ternopil)

VAR referee - Viktor Kopiyevsky (Kropyvnytskyi)

VAR assistant - Artem Mykhailiuk (Kyiv)

VAR observer - Ihor Yaremchuk (Kyiv)

UAF arbitration observer - Andriy Shandor (Lviv)

Live broadcast of the match on UPL.TV channel.

Preview: Kharkiv returned from training camps in Spain, where they played seven friendly matches, gradually gaining match fitness and working on tactical strategies of the coaching staff. Mladen Bartulovich's team is in 7th place with 24 points and an unfinished match against "Veres" (goal difference: 18-12).

The squad situation at "Metalist 1925" is improving ahead of the second half of the season, as Ari Moura is already training with the team. Ramik Gadzhiev has started running exercises and is expected to join the team during the second half of the season.

"Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih is currently in 5th place in the standings with 26 points. (goal difference: 28-24). The team also had a training camp in Spain, where they played 7 friendlies:

"Kryvbas" - "Midtjylland" — 0:3

"Kryvbas" - "Aarhus" — 2:4

"Kryvbas" - "Sogndal" — 2:1

"Kryvbas" - "Tianjin Cityzen" — 3:3

"Kryvbas" - "Tianjin Tigers" — 3:0

"Kryvbas" - "Brentford" — 0:0

"Kryvbas" - "Liepaja" — 1:1

Throughout the history of matches between "Metalist 1925" and "Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih, they have played six games. Two ended in victories for Kharkiv, while the Kryvyi Rih team won in 4 matches.

UPL, 17th round

Friday, February 20

15:30 "Veres" - "Poltava" - 3:2

18:00 “Dynamo" - "Rukh" - 1:0

Saturday, February 21

13:00 "Epitsentr" - "LNZ"

15:30 "Metalist 1925" - "Kryvbas"

Sunday, February 22

13:00 "Kolos" - "Polissya"

15:30 "Shakhtar" - "Karpaty"

Monday, February 23

13:00 "Oleksandriya" - "Obolon"

15:30 "Kudrivka" - "Zorya"

"Kryvbas". Profile

Year of establishment - 2020

Club colors - red and white

Home stadium - "Hirnyk" (Kryvyi Rih, Kolonkivska St., 1, capacity: 2500 spectators)

President - Kostyantyn Karamanits

Head coach - Patrick van Leuven

Official website - fckryvbas.com

History: In 2020, a new club "Kryvbas" emerged in the Second League on the basis of FC "Hirnyk", which represented Kryvyi Rih in professional football. Quoting the team's official website: "In 2020, the football community of Kryvyi Rih united, and based on FC "Hirnyk", which had been existing independently for over 10 years, developing its own Academy and infrastructure, a new club was created. A club that respects the history of all Kryvyi Rih football," - describing the processes that took place within the club. In two seasons, the team managed to rise to the elite level, where they currently compete.

Achievements: In their first season in professional football, "Kryvbas" won bronze medals in Group B of the Second League. They might have also won awards in the First League the following season, but it was not completed due to the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine. However, the team quickly made up for it in the UPL, winning bronze medals at the end of the 2023/2024 season.

Geography: Kryvyi Rih is a large industrial city located in the Dnipropetrovsk region. It stretches along the Inhulets River and is known for its mining and metallurgical enterprises. It is one of the longest cities in Europe, with a length of over 120 kilometers.

Head coach: The well-known Dutch specialist Patrick van Leuven currently leads "Kryvbas", having previously worked with "Metalist 1925" last season. He took over the Kharkiv team shortly after the start of the season and left it before the last round of the championship. Prior to "Metalist 1925" in Ukraine, he led "Shakhtar" and "Zorya", previously working extensively in the youth system of a team from Donetsk. He also coached "Kairat" from Kazakhstan and "Maccabi" from Israel.

Transfermarkt: According to the estimates of a well-known portal, the current squad of "Kryvbas" is valued at 11.75 million euros. The average age of players is 22.8 years. The team has 14 foreign players. The most expensive player is Cameroonian footballer Ivan Dibango, valued at 1.2 million euros.