Dynamo defeated Maccabi but dropped out of the Europa League
29 August 2025 00:10
Dynamo Kyiv played the return leg of the Europa League qualifying playoffs against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The game at the Lublin Arena in Poland ended in a 1-0 victory for the Ukrainian club, but this result was not enough to qualify for the main tournament of the Europa League, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The course of the confrontation
In the 5th minute of the match, Gustavo Guerrero put Kyiv ahead after an accurate pass from Oleksandr Pikhalenko. “Dynamo had chances to score a second time and take the game to overtime, but failed to realize them.
The first meeting in Tel Aviv ended in a 1-3 defeat for Oleksandr Shovkovsky’s team, so the overall score of the two-match confrontation was 2-3 in favor of Maccabi. The Israeli club will continue to play in the Europa League.
What preceded it?
Kyiv began the European Cup season with victories over Maltese Hamrun Spartans (twice 3-0) in the Champions League qualifiers, but then flew out of Cyprus’ Paphos (0: 1 at home and 0: 2 away).
“Maccabi initially also fought for a place in the Champions League, but lost to the same Paphos (1-1 away and 0-1 at home). In the Europa League, the Israelis defeated Hamroun Spartans (2:1 and 3:1).
The history of confrontations between the clubs began back in 2011, when both Europa League matches ended in a draw (1:1 and 3:3). In 2015, Dynamo won the Champions League twice: 2-0 away and 1-0 at home.
Playing without Vanat and plans for the future
In the decisive match, Kyiv played without their main forward Vladyslav Vanat, who is close to joining Spanish side Girona and was not even included in the application.
Now Shovkovsky’s team will continue the season in the Conference League. Kyiv will play their next match in the UPL against Zhytomyr’s Polissia on August 31.
