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Ukrainian football stars break down on field in heartbreaking moment

Chris Young
·Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Everton and Manchester City players Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko after Russia invaded their home country of Ukraine.
Everton and Manchester City players Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko, who both hail from Ukraine, had a tearful embrace before their PL clash this weekend. Pictures: Getty Images

The Premier League has stood in solidarity with Ukraine as the European nation continues to defend itself against an invasion from Russia declared by President Vladimir Putin last week.

Many club made efforts to show their support for Ukraine and denounce the Russian invasion, but the toll of the crisis was no clearer than in a moment between two rivals.

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Manchester City and Everton came together in a show of support for their respective Ukranian stars - City's Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko.

The pair walked towards one another and embraced prior to the match, with Everton players behind them all draped in Ukranian flags.

They made their way to the substitute bench, both in tears as the sounds of 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' by The Hollies was played inside Goodison Park.

It was an emotional and at times uplifting day in the Premier League, marked by messages of solidarity across the country from players and fans toward those in — and from — Ukraine after Russia's invasion.

At Old Trafford, where Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw by second-bottom Watford, players from both teams came together before the start of the match behind a sign with the word peace in several languages.

At Brighton, Matty Cash scored the opening goal in Aston Villa's 2-0 victory and marked it by taking off his jersey to reveal a message to a Poland national side teammate who plays his club football in Ukraine.

"Tomasz Kedziora + family, stay strong my bro", it read.

World football clubs stand in solidarity with Ukraine

La Liga Champions Atletico Madrid took a stand against Russia's invasion of Ukraine before beating Celta Vigo 2-0.

Before kick-off, Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium was lit with the yellow and blue colours of the Ukraine flag and bore the message Stop War.

The same message was then flashed inside the stadium during the team introductions.

Also in the Spanish capital, the stands of Rayo's Vallecas Stadium displayed signs against the war with a Ukrainian flag hung by supporters.

A message reading
A message reading "Stop war" in the colours of the Ukrainian flag is displayed on screens before the start of the Spanish Liga football match between Atletico de Madrid and RC Celta de Vigo. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP) (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

The Spanish league included the message NO A LA GUERRA (No to the War) next to the score at the top of the screen of all televised broadcasts of Spain's first and second division league games this weekend.

Benzema and Vinicius finally unlocked Rayo's defence in the 83rd minute when a passing exchange inside a packed area between the strike partners left the France striker clear to score the winner — his league-leading 19th goal of the campaign.

Renan Lodi scored twice from two assists by Geoffrey Kondogbia to lead Atletico to victory over Celta and lift the champions above Barcelona into fourth place.

Lodi, who had seen his playing time reduced this season, excelled at left wing-back to twice latch on to long passes from Kondogbia to score in the 36th and 60th.

With AAP

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