The Ukrainian national team has concluded their group stage matches at the European Championship. After a loss to the Netherlands (2:3) and a victory over North Macedonia (2:1), today Andriy Shevchenko's squad lost to Austria in Bucharest.

The injured Zubkov, Popov, and Bezus did not make the lineup for the match against the Austrians. As for the starting eleven, there was only one change compared to the game against Macedonia — Serhiy Sydorchuk returned to his defensive midfield position in place of Stepanenko.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Since Ukraine remained second on the table with a draw, it was no surprise that Austria began the match in a more aggressive manner. The red-and-white team pressed high up the pitch while Shevchenko's men did not engage in pressing tactics. In the early minutes, the team of Franco Foda managed to create several opportunities near Bushchan's goal and executed a number of corner kicks.

A threatening situation arose from K. Schlager’s raid down Ukraine's left flank, as well as Zbiraker's shot that was blocked by Sydorchuk. The blue-and-yellow team found a weak spot in the opponents' defense on their left side where captain Alaba played forward, focusing much of his attention there. Yarmolenko and Karavaev found space and broke into this zone but lacked the final pass.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

When it seemed that Ukraine had contained the initial pressure, Austria opened the scoring. Another corner kick executed by Alaba ended with a shot from Baumgartner which outpaced Zabarny. 0:1. After conceding the goal, Ukraine managed to move the game closer to their opponent's goal for some time. On the 29th minute, Shaparenko dribbled past a defender and took an unsafe shot low down, Bushchan saved the ball while Yarmolenko failed to get on the rebound. However, Austria continued to press harder. Before halftime, Bushchan saved his net from Lainer's shot, and Arnautovic missed two chances.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In the second 45 minutes, Tsygankov came on and Ukraine began to approach their opponent's goal more often. Despite this, Austria continued to keep Bushchan busy with long-range shots. Later, Andriy Shevchenko threw in another fresh attacker, Marlos, and Ukraine gained territorial dominance. However, they struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities.

The last card played by Shevchenko was Besedin who formed a forward duo with Yaremchuk but the time to change things ran out for Ukraine. On the 88th minute, Yaremchuk missed the target from an acute angle.

Now, the fate of Ukraine's team in the tournament will depend on the results of third-round matches in other groups, as four teams finishing third with the best records also advance to the round of 16.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

UEFA Euro 2020. Group Stage. Group C

Ukraine — Austria — 0:1 (0:1)

Goal: Baumgartner (21).

Ukraine: Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarny, Matviyenko (Besedin, 85), Sydorchuk, Sidorenko (Tsygankov, 46), Shaparenko (Marlos, 68), Yarmolenko (c), Yaremchuk.

Substitutes: Pyatov, Trubin, Sobolev, Sudakov, Krivtsov, Stepanenko, Makarenko, Timchik, Dovbik.

Coach: Andriy Shevchenko.

Austria: Bachmann, Lainer, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Alaba (c), Laimer (Ilsanker, 72), K. Schlager, Grillitsch, Zbiraker, Baumgartner (Shep, 32), Arnautovic (Kalajdzic, 90).

Substitutes: A. Schlager, Perwann, Ulmer, Posch, Gregoritsch, Linhart, Trimmel, Schaub, Onysio.

Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey).

June 21. Bucharest. 'Arena Națională'.

North Macedonia — Netherlands — 0:3

Final Standings