---
title: "Polesye lost to Copenhagen and exited the Conference League: how the Ukrainians fought the Danes"
description: "Zhytomyr's Polesye lost to Copenhagen in the Conference League return leg and exited European competitions. Despite an active performance, the Ukrainians could not turn the tide of the confrontation. 🇺🇦⚽️"
date: 2026-07-29T18:58:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/polsye-lost-to-copenhagen-and-exited-the-conference-league
tags: [polsye, kopengagen, liga-konferenciy, ukrayina]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Polesye lost to Copenhagen and exited the Conference League: how the Ukrainians fought the Danes

![FC Polissya player in black jersey #7 battles for the ball against Copenhagen opponent in UEFA Conference League match](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/29/polsye-upustilo-kopengagen-v-lyge-konferenciy/polsye-upustilo-kopengagen-v-lyge-konferenciy-1.webp)

In the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League, Zhytomyr's Polesye played a tense match against Danish side Copenhagen. Despite an active start and attempts to impose their style on the opponent, the Ukrainian team could not overcome the hosts' resistance and exited the European competition.

### Match start and the first goal

From the first minutes, the Ukrainian representative in European competitions pressed the opponent into their own half. Polesye players looked for chances in front of the opponent's goal, but they failed to create truly dangerous shots. Copenhagen withstood the initial pressure from the Zhytomyr team and began to move into attack.

One of the few episodes ended in a counter-attack from the left flank. Polesye defender Maisuradze failed to track Robert and went for an unnecessary tackle. As a result — a penalty. Eljounoussi rolled the ball low from the spot towards the center, while Georgiy Bushchan dived to his left. The score was opened.

### Counter-attacks and a red card

Polesye responded with a nice shot from Kotarski, who was pulling away, while Andrievsky's attempt, which deflected off an opponent from outside the penalty area, also did not cause particular problems for the hosts.

Hardly had the second half begun when Nick Suzuki denied Igor Krasnopir a one-on-one with the Copenhagen goalkeeper. The referee interpreted this as a denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and showed the Japanese player a red card. Playing with a man down, Copenhagen began to play even more organized.

### Final notes

In the 55th minute, Polesye took their 10th corner of the match, while the hosts had not had a single set-piece today. Polesye got carried away with building an attack but missed a counter-attack by the hosts, which ended with a precise shot by Robert — 2:0.

Ruslan Rotan substituted Nikolai Gaiduchik and Alexander Filippov to support Igor Krasnopir. Polesye's super-saturated attack continued to hammer at Copenhagen's goal, but even when they managed to bypass the opponent's dense defense, their accuracy let them down. 30 seconds before the end, Boris Krushinsky dared to take a long-range shot, and the ball, deflecting off the turf, reached Copenhagen's goal. However, Polesye was too late to save themselves from defeat.

### Results and prospects

The final whistle confirmed Copenhagen's victory with a score of 2:1. The aggregate score of the two matches was 5:3 in favor of the Danes. Thus, the most successful season in European competitions for the Zhytomyr club remains the 2025/2026 campaign, when they defeated Santa Coloma from Andorra and Hungarian side Paksh, but in the final round, they lost to Italian side Fiorentina in two matches.

This was Polesye's third attempt to reach the main stage of the Conference League. Now the team will play exclusively in the Ukrainian championship and cup. It was previously reported that scouts from English clubs were present at the Copenhagen — Polesye match.