Last Sunday, Ruslan Malinovskiy joined the blue-and-yellow team. The day before, "Atalanta" played their last match in Serie A, and Ruslan immediately arrived at the Hotel Elegance in Berd.

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

After a long separation (half a year after the victory in Bosnia), there was plenty to talk about with the boys — both about the war and football. Warm embraces, friendly jokes, mutual support — and let's get to work!

During physical exercises in the gym, the guys actively followed the decisive matches of the English Premier League, where "Manchester City" with Oleksandr Zinchenko was competing for the championship against "Liverpool." When the first half of the match against "Aston Villa" ended in defeat for the "Citizens," it was noticeable that the boys were a bit anxious about the result. Although everyone confidently said that Zinchenko would come on as a substitute and "City" would win. In the end, it turned out to be true— in the second half Sasha came onto the field, made an assist for a goal, and his team, making a stunning comeback, secured their fourth championship in five years.

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

This news was conveyed to the boys by senior administrator Oleksandr Kistkin during breaks in training sessions. It delighted everyone. After Oleksandr Zubkov's championship with "Ferencváros," Andriy Lunin's with "Real" and Eduard Sobol's — from "Brugge"— this is already the fourth triumph of a European champion in the blue-and-yellow team this season.

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

As for work on the field, today after warming up, the boys played a square game and then worked on defensive and attacking actions. The main part of the training was devoted to working on tactical models in game series. During the final preparatory session, the coaching staff will focus precisely on this, as there is still slightly more than a week until the match with Scotland.

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

Tomorrow we expect Andriy Yarmolenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko to arrive, whose clubs have also concluded their seasons, followed by the English and Belgian champions, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eduard Sobol respectively,— immediately after being honored by their clubs with "golden" achievements.

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of the national team of Ukraine

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

List of players in the national team of Ukraine

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Andriy Pyatov ("Shakhtar" Donetsk), Dmytro Rytsnik ("Vorskla" Poltava), Andriy Lunin ("Real," Spain).

Defenders: Oleksandr Karavayev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Dmytro Popov (all — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Mykhailo Matviienko, Valeri Bondar (both — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko ("Everton," England), Eduard Sobol ("Brugge," Belgium), Taras Kachaраба ("Slavia," Czech Republic).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Mykhailo Mudryk (both — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov, Mykhailo Shaparenko (all — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Oleksandr Pichalnyk ("FC Dnipro-1"), Andriy Yarmolenko ("West Ham," England), Oleksandr Zinchenko ("Manchester City," England), Ruslan Malinovskiy ("Atalanta," Italy), Oleksandr Zubkov ("Ferencváros," Hungary).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk ("FC Dnipro-1"), Roman Yaremchuk ("Benfica," Portugal), Danilo Sikan ("Greuther Fürth," Germany).

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service