For the second consecutive failed match at the EURO 2024 finals, Artem Dovbyk is at risk of being pushed to the bench for the rest of the season.
Dovbyk is wearing a very different face at the football festival taking place in Germany. If in La Liga, the Ukrainian striker dominated the tournament, becoming the top scorer to the surprise of the fans, then he suddenly became "invisible" when it came to the EURO 2024 finals.
In La Liga season 2023/24, scoring goals has never become a difficult problem for Dovbyk. He tore apart Atletico and Barcelona, scoring a hat-trick against Sevilla. Encountering Granada, this spearhead scored 4 goals.
However, at the EURO finals, Dovbyk caused great disappointment. In consecutive matches against Romania and Slovakia in Group E, the Ukrainian striker failed. He didn't even have a single shot on target.
On the day the Ukrainian team lost 0-3 to Romania on June 17, Dovbyk was assigned the starting role by coach Serhiy Rebrov. This striker also played the whole match. What the 27-year-old spearhead did was one shot that did not hit the target.
By the first match with Slovakia, the situation still did not improve for Dovbyk. Faced with the risk that the home team could be eliminated early, Coach Rebrov ran out of patience with the striker who played La Liga's top scorer in the 2023/24 season.
He decided to withdraw this player from the field in the 67th minute. The person chosen to replace Dovbyk was Roman Yaremchuk - the author of the goal that later set the score 2-1 for Ukraine.
For Dovbyk, being placed in the starting lineup against Slovakia marks an exciting milestone in his career. June 21 is the 27th birthday of the Girona striker. However, Dovbyk experienced mixed feelings of sadness and joy.
Happy because the Ukrainian team got the first 3 points at the EURO 2024 finals, thereby lighting up the opportunity to continue. It's sad because he still hasn't opened a goal account in this year's tournament.
During his 67 minutes at the Düsseldorf Arena, Dovbyk played very hard, moving without the ball as well as actively pressing. However, what the Ukrainian striker could do was only two shots, one of which was blocked by the Slovakian defender. The remaining phase did not hit the target. Dovbyk also only had 16 touches of the ball.
In the context of Yaremchuk shining as soon as he entered the field, this made Dovbyk's position shaken before the final match of Group E between Ukraine and Belgium. With coach Rebrov, he also showed that he is willing to eliminate stars in the national team if they are not in good form. The case of goalkeeper Andriy Lunin is an example.
After making mistakes that caused the home team to lose in the opening match against Romania, Lunin was immediately pushed to the bench, having to give up his position to Anatoliy Trubin - who was very impressive against Slovakia. Worth mentioning, the 25-year-old goalkeeper contributed greatly to helping Real Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League last season.
After two matches in Group E of the EURO 2024 finals, the Ukrainian team after the victory over Slovakia rose to second place, they have 3 points. Rebrov teachers and students need at least a draw in the final match to maintain hope of continuing to the knockout round.