FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk - Quick overview

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Founded 1918 - the oldest club in the UPL this season.
Last seasons finish: 4th in the Ukraine Premier League. Qualified for the Uefa Europa League Play off Round.

Along the banks of the river Dniper lies a team that are emerging as a new force in Ukrainian football. With a big fanbase and big names within their ranks, everything was going great as the club were approaching the final furlong to last seasons UPL season. Flying high in 3rd with just a handful of games remaining, they buckled under the pressure as Metalist powered on and Dynamo doing just enough to keep them out of the Champions League berth they craved.

Under the reign of Juande Ramos, who needs to introduction, steadily Dnipro have assembled a good mix of Ukrainian and foreign players and have certainly a good soild team to pick from. Stars such as Eugene Konoplyanka have drawn interest from all over Europe; this however is having a negative affect on the club as the fall out continues and Konoplyanka is finding it tough to get himself on the pitch as he makes his intentions of moving clear.

Ramos also is coming under pressure. The collapse at the end of the season was met with unimpressed comments from multi-Ukrainian club owner Igor Kolomoyskiy and fans alike. Despite this he has remained adament that he is the one to take them to the next level. They have made a steady start this season; dropping only 5 points from a poissible 18 and lie in 3rd place after six games. There is still an awful long way to go however with Dynamo Kyiv's poor start to the season by their standards, they may see an opportunity to capitalise on last season's ending.

Players that Nomme will certainly need to keep eyes on is of course the aforementioned Konoplyanka. It's not just his pace and exceptional technical ability that makes this Dnipro side tick, but with club captain Ruslan Rotan pulling the strings from midfield, they have excellent options. This is before I can come to the likes of Giuliano who supplies Dnipro's varied and at times frightening front line. Up top you have the choices of Roman Zozulya - current Ukrainian internationalist; over 100 UPL goals and currently joint top scorer with five goals from six games man Eugene Seleznyov, experienced Brazilian Matheus and Nikola Kalinic who has 17 caps for Croatia aged just 25.

If they do find themselves on the back foot; defensively they have good options also. Regular Czech national squad player Ondřej Mazuch has quickly settled into the first team at Dnipro with Croat Ivan Strinic helping out at left back. Douglas, signed from Vasco De Gama has arrived from Brazil during the summer and has already played in eight games this term at centre half. Artem Fedetskiy may be one of the most improved players within the team. Having been loaned out previously, he has proved his worth to the club and his technique and drive forward from right back is becoming a very good weapon.

Quick round up of season so far:

Dnipro 3-0 Arsenal
Illichivets 0-2 Dnipro
Dnipro 1-3 Zorya
Volyn 1-3 Dnipro
Dnipro 1-0 Hoverla
Sevastopol 1-1 Dnipro