At the start of the new season in the Ukrainian U-19 championship, almost all teams that were among the leaders last season are positioned at the top of the league table.

In the top five — four out of five remain in place, and only instead of "Dnipro-1," which ceased to exist, "Zorya" joined the favorites. The team is led by Maxim Krupinin.

Whether Luhansk's team will stay at the top for long — we'll find out later, but for now let's note that its goal-scoring rate after five rounds is third behind "Dynamo" and "Shakhtar."

Overall, making any definitive conclusions based on results from just five rounds is premature. At such a short distance, much depends on the schedule. Some played against strong opponents, others — against teams that had only recently completed their squad formation. And some are still looking for players considering their budget constraints. The newcomers to the UPL face this challenge most acutely.

However, "Karpaty" prepared in advance for top-tier performances, having a team in the second league last season where young players were honed. In the 2023/2024 season, graduates of coaches Taras Pavlish and Oleh Rodin from 2007, representing "UFC-Karpaty," won the DYLFL U-17 championship and represented Ukraine at the World Gymnasiade. Plus, they had an entire previous season to select players.

As a result, despite the chaos with coaches (preparation for the season was led by Vladyslav Lupashko who replaced "Karpat-2" coach Roman Hnatyuk, and in early matches Denis Kozhanov took charge before passing responsibilities to Oleh Golodyuk), "Karpaty" showed that they have the potential to be at the top of the league table.

But "Ingulets" cannot boast of such systematic approach regarding children's and youth football structure. And even "Left Bank," despite having been involved in player preparation since its inception, had to rush events over the summer as it secured a place in UPL largely due to decisions made by "Dnipro-1."

We also remind that during autumn, teams of our big clubs will face double burden as they will participate in UEFA Youth League.

Players from "Shakhtar" partially duplicate the calendar of the first team and have faced opponents such as "Bologna" (September 18), "Atalanta" (October 2), "Arsenal" (October 22), "Young Boys" (November 6), PSV (November 27) and "Bayern Munich" (December 10).

In "Dynamo's" case — it’s a different story. The first team did not qualify for the main draw of Champions League, but the U-19 team as champions of Ukraine will participate in the Champions Path where knockout matches are held.

In the second round of the tournament, Kyivans will play against the winner of the "Lincoln Red Imps" (Gibraltar) — "Maribor" (Slovenia) match. Dynamo's opponent will be determined after matches on September 18 and October 2, while Igor Kostyuk’s wards will face them on October 23 and November 6.

Matches of the third round will take place on November 27 and December 11. A potential opponent for Dynamo will be determined in a group featuring "Bulje" (Albania) — "2 Korriku" (Kosovo) and UKD (Ireland) — "Stjarnan" (Iceland).

League Table

Note: in brackets — the team's position in the final table of the 2023/2024 season.

Scorescorers: Fedir ZADOROZHNYI ("Zorya"), Oleksandr LOMAGA ("Shakhtar") — 5, Vladyslav GERICH ("Dynamo"), Denis STRYUK ("Zorya"), Vladyslav TYTYUNOV ("Shakhtar"), Yaroslav SHEVCHENKO ("Kryvbas") — 4, Ibrahim DABO ("Shakhtar"), Orest LEPSKYY ("Veres"), Andriy MATKEVICH ("Dynamo"), Volodymyr MULIK ("Kryvbas"), Alexandre PEIKRISHVILI ("Dynamo") — 3.