--- title: "Dynamo's Debut in the 2026/2027 Season: How Squad Losses and Universitatea's Lack of a Leader Will Affect the Europa League Match Outcome" description: "Kyiv's Dynamo starts the 2026/2027 season with a Europa League match against Romanian Universitatea. Despite the loss of four players, including defenders Zakharchenko and Popov, experts believe in the success of the Kyiv team. The opponent approaches the game with a weakened attack: top scorer Jovo Lukic is absent due to vacation after the World Cup. βš½πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ†šπŸ‡·πŸ‡΄" date: 2026-07-09T12:22:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/dynamo-debut-2026-2027-squad-losses-and-universitatea-leader-absence-europa-league tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Dynamo's Debut in the 2026/2027 Season: How Squad Losses and Universitatea's Lack of a Leader Will Affect the Europa League Match Outcome ![Players of 'Universitatea Craiova' in black-and-white kits stand on the pitch with hands over hearts before the 2026/2027 Europa League match β€” highlighting the significance of the clash with Dynamo amid reported squad losses and absence of their leader](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/09/dynamo-vs-universitatea-2026-2027-preview/dynamo-vs-universitatea-2026-2027-preview-1.webp) Today, Kyiv's Dynamo will take the field for the first official match of the 2026/2027 season. As part of the first qualifying round of the Europa League, the Kyiv team will face the Romanian Universitatea from Cluj. The match promises to be tense: the Kyiv club approaches the game with several squad losses, while the opponent is experiencing problems in attack. ### Dynamo's Squad Losses Ahead of the Season Start At the pre-match press conference, the head coach of the capital club, Ihor Kostyuk, announced the names of players who will definitely not participate in today's game. The list of injured or suspended players includes four footballers, among them two central defenders β€” Vladyslav Zakharchenko and Denys Popov, right-back Oleksandr Tymchyk, and left winger Vladyslav Kabayev. Football commentator Andriy Shakhov, a long-time deputy editor-in-chief of the "Football" magazine, believes that this will not create a global catastrophe in Dynamo's defense, but will significantly limit the coach's tactical options. β€” In my opinion, the footballers who will not be able to play today are not such unquestionable leaders at their positions. However, it is always bad when a person, and in the main case the head coach, is deprived of choice. Therefore, the absence of these players becomes a problem for the coach and significantly narrows the variability both in determining the starting lineup and strengthening the game from the bench, β€” noted the expert. ### Squad Balance and Historical Context According to Shakhov, Dynamo has a fairly balanced squad, where on many positions players of approximately the same level of skill are gathered. This makes the choice of the starting eleven a difficult task even in conditions of full personnel. β€” Before the first official match of the season, it is usually not entirely clear on whom the coaching staff plans to rely. Probably, this applies even more to Dynamo, β€” commented the journalist. An important factor remains the historical statistics: matches against Romanian teams traditionally turn out to be difficult for the Kyiv team. Nevertheless, the expert is confident that the current state of the Romanian championship does not allow Universitatea to pose a serious threat. β€” The opponent is unpleasant, however, now the Romanian championship and Romanian clubs are not as strong as before. The Dynamo players must pass this barrier. The Kyiv team is more experienced, and their squad is stronger. And even the lack of opportunity to play at their home stadium should not affect the positive outcome of the confrontation for Dynamo, β€” believes Shakhov. ### Situation at Universitatea: Personnel Turnover and Lack of a Leader The Romanian club actively worked in the transfer market during the summer off-season: nine footballers left the team, but they were replaced by eight new players. Despite active rotation, the expert does not expect radical changes in the opponent's starting lineup. β€” With the exception of individual cases, for example, the goalkeeper position, the main players remain in the club for now. So it is by no means a fact that the team's newcomers will immediately break through to the starting lineup in large numbers. I think there will be few radical changes in the starting lineup compared to the end of last season, β€” stated Shakhov. The main vulnerability of Universitatea at the moment is the absence of a key attacking player. The top scorer of the last championship, central striker Jovo Lukic, stayed at the World Cup and is currently on vacation. β€” For the Romanians, the main loss will be Jovo Lukic, who stayed at the World Cup and is currently on vacation. Replacing such a player, on whom Universitatea's attack completion was built, is a huge problem. I hope the Dynamo players will take advantage of this, β€” summarized Andriy Shakhov.