Ufa avoided relegation only in the final day of the season with nervy 2:1 home win over Arsenal Tula. Up until mid-April Ufa looked doomed and only the managerial change that brought 3 wins and just 1 defeat in last 6 rounds changed that.
Difficult financial situation caused by the COVID pandemic meant that during the first 10-11 rounds Ufa hardly thought much about their results as 13 players left the club and 9 new ones were signed. This rebuilding job throughout active campaign logically led to awful start with Ufa losing 10 of their opening 15 games, with just 1 win in those! This meant that come the end of November Ufa looked doomed.
In the midst of this run, after round 10, coach Evseev was sacked and replaced by experienced Rakhimov.
More changes to the personnel followed in the winter months and, come the end of the season, the staggering 19 players had left Ufa, while 17 newcomers were signed once the campaign was already on.
Coach Rakhimov never found a way to incorporate the newcomers though and in his only 14 games in charge he registered 10 defeats and just 2 wins. After starting 2021 with single point from 5 games he also got sacked after round 24.
At that stage Ufa were in deep trouble and looking doomed so the unknown Aleksey Stukalov took charge of his first ever top-flight team with this seen as move preparing Ufa for life in the lower division next season. However, Stukalov finally found a way to extract much better displays from the squad and with him Ufa ended the season (W3 D2 L1), which proved just about enough for survival.
Klimov joined only in October, while Mrzljak in late November, but they both played crucial roles in the last 6 games and the pair were the main reason why Ufa survived. Winter signings Miletic, Bauer and Ivanov also had key roles in 2021.
Many unknowns remain regarding Ufa’s financial situation and suitability of Stukalov to lead the team forward at top level, so turbulent summer and likely another tough campaign ahead seem likely.
