Freeze-frame

Let’s start with a few particulars wrapped in a timeless truth: times change. Ukraine’s biggest football rivalry still draws all eyes, but it no longer exists in a world of its own.

A draw between Shakhtar and Dynamo no longer just means two points dropped by each of our giants. It is a gift to the challengers who once stood quietly on the sidelines. Two years ago, Oleksandriia were in the title race right to the finish. Last season LNZ had a go at taking the crown. Now the number of would-be revolutionaries has doubled, with Polissia and Kharkiv in the mix. The Ukrainian Premier League has learned to keep us guessing as a whole. In any case, the landscape of Ukrainian football has changed completely.

Let’s be honest: Sunday’s showpiece at Arena Lviv was a disappointment, above all in its quality. There were forgettable derbies even in the good years, when the prospect of Srna and Fernandinho taking on Vida and Milevskyi stirred more excitement than El Clásico, with Messi’s Barcelona against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid. But even on bad days Shakhtar and Dynamo used to maintain a certain standard. Last Sunday the standard fell a long way. The best players on both sides were the goalkeepers, Riznyk and Bushchan.

Nine matches all over Europe in 30 days left Shakhtar looking like spent horses. The same attacking moves, repeated from one game to the next, rarely catch anyone out anymore. Dynamo, for their part, came out to endure and avoid defeat, with little appetite for avenging that 3–0 loss in the cup. Even with a man advantage, they seemed at a loss. Vinícius Tobias’s red card did at least provide a little amusement. The Old Testament principle of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, was impeccably observed. In the recent cup tie between the two clubs, Dynamo centre-back Taras Mykhavko saw red for a similar scrap. Who can balance the scales as deftly as referees? They call such manoeuvres ‘consistency’, and so do we. It sounds a bit like a verdict of acquittal.

With one side unable to get going and the other unsure how, we got an evening of provocation, sly blows and outright rough play. Open hostility hung over the pitch. Arda Turan saw it too.

One of the round’s liveliest stories was taking shape in Hnidyn until it broke off at the most interesting moment. Kharkiv and Karpaty produced a cracking first half. The second will have to wait. The war prevented them from finishing there and then, and the infamous ‘vested interests’ did their bit as well.

A shortened round 12 with four draws was a perfect reflection of this season’s league. Nobody wants to give ground, and nobody dares take much of a risk. The teams have gone into a two-week break. The international window feels like a freeze-frame in a gripping thriller. Shakhtar are clinging to top spot, Polissia are breathing down their neck and could make a break of their own at any moment. At the bottom it’s the usual fight for survival.