Ukrainian "Dnipro-1" suffered a defeat in the home leg of the Conference League playoff round tie against Cypriot AEK, thus concluding their debut European Cup season.

A week ago on Cyprus, Dnipropetrovskians suffered a loss with a score of 0:1. Due to the Russian invasion, in the return leg they were forced to host their opponent in Košice, Slovakia. A significant blow for the Ukrainian team was the absence of Dovbik, who sustained an injury.

The first half passed almost without any noteworthy moments. At the start of the match, Pikhalyonok twice fired shots at goal, to which Cypriots responded with attempts from Jakolic and Gustavo in the area.

Photo scdnipro1.com.ua

At the 51st minute, "Dnipro-1" created a dangerous moment — the ball after Pehlo's shot hit the crossbar. Afterwards, black-and-yellow players for a long time could not trouble Pirich, struggling against their opponent’s low block. Only at the 72nd minute did Kutsulyak head in Pikhalyonok's cross, but failed to direct it into the far corner.

In conclusion, the match ended with a scoreless draw, which means that the Ukrainian team is out of the Conference League.

In the lineup of "Dnipro-1" in the match were players who were called up for the last national team training camp — Sarapiy and Pikhalyonok.

Conference League. Playoff Round. Second Leg

"Dnipro-1" (Ukraine) - AEK (Cyprus) — 0:0

"Dnipro-1": Valef, Heinr (Kogut, 73), Svatos (c), Sarapiy, Amash, Rubchynskyi (Tanchyk, 46), Babenko, Blanco (Kononov, 90), Pikhalyonok, Pehlo (Nazarenko, 84), Kutsulyak.

Substitutes: Ribak, Kinarekin, Horbunov.

Coach: Oleksandr Kucher.

AEK: Pirich, Rosales, Milicevic, Tomovic (c), Garcia, Pons (Gonzalez, 90+1), Gustavo, Fara (Nikolic, 84), Oje (Mamas, 84), Jakolic (Casas, 74), Lopez (Englezou, 90+1).

Substitutes: Tumbas, Stilianidis, Trichkovskiy, Kipros, Naum, Andreu.

Coach: Jose Luis Oltra.

Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia).

Yellow cards: Pehlo (56), Heinr (61), Kutsulyak (76) — Garcia (13), Tomovic (63), Pons (82).

February 23. Košice. "Košice Football Arena" stadium.

First leg — 0:1.

As a reminder, in the current season «Vorskla» and «Zorya» were unable to overcome the Conference League qualification barrier.