Champions League

As if someone ironic decided to check Krasnodar for soundness of mind and strength of memory. Or, perhaps, check us, who are worried about Krasnodar.

Have you noticed how slyly the draw was used in the Champions League qualification? In a pair where the rival of our club was selected, he brought together the representatives of Portugal and Greece – the very countries that were on the Krasnodar route a year ago. Yes, the names are different – Porto and Olympiacos then, Benfica and SO OK now – but the national specifics are exactly the same. As well as stereotypes about strength and convenience. They say, the Portuguese are stronger, it will be difficult with them, but the Greeks are simpler, there are more chances. And so it seems like now, when instead of Benfica, as expected, we got PAOK, we can start to quietly rejoice. But have you really forgotten how everything turned out a year ago?

Then we were also happy. We passed Porto and considered themselves already in the League. Like, what is Olympiacos after three goals at Porto. And ran into Greek counterattacks. With which we were simply destroyed in Piraeus.

Olympiakos – Krasnodar. 2: 0. Lazar Randzelkovic

And today we see that exactly the same striped Greek counterattacks destroyed the Benfica. And they are preparing to destroy Krasnodar once again.

PAOK – Benfica. 2: 0. Andrija Zhivkovic

The initial disposition of the opponents in the next round can be assumed without much risk of making a mistake: Krasnodar will be with the ball and territory, and PAOK – with the feeling of an arrow in the bow. Moreover, the first match is scheduled for Russia. Is our club ready to avoid last year’s mistakes? Will he be able to confirm once again that the shell does not hit the same crater again?

So far, we can only assess the prerequisites. So, how often do today’s Krasnodar concede after counterattacks? After all, every rival of the black-greens counts on them.

In the six matches of the new Russian championship, the bulls conceded four times. Once – from “Rostov” – after a direct free kick. Three times – from Lokomotiv, Ural, CSKA – in positional defense. There were no goals after the opponent’s counterattacks.

If you rewind the timeline a little bit back and consider, say, the summer matches of the previous season, then the desired copy will be found only in a meeting with Dynamo – then the forward of Muscovites Vyacheslav Grulev opened the scoring just after a rapid race from his half. But even that episode requires reservations. Firstly, a minority, secondly, the absence of the main performers, Safonov and Kayo, and thirdly, a ricochet. And again we will not find other examples. Even in the meeting with Zenit, which scored four times, there were no classic counterattacking actions with a goal result on the part of the champion.

Krasnodar – Dynamo Moscow. 0: 1. Viacheslav Grulev

Obviously, this is not just that – it is obvious that Krasnodar is working on suppressing high-speed retaliatory attacks. And it would be strange if it didn’t work with its own style of play. The first task in case of losing the ball in the opponent’s half is to return it immediately. If not, then at least slow down the development of the retaliatory attack to allow the group of defending players to take their positions. Pressure at Murada Musaeva debugged well, therefore, the opponent is usually not allowed to attack freely. Well, in the line of defense, the opening turned out to be very useful Cayo, who now, perhaps, should be considered the fastest of the RPL center-backs. The Brazilian has enough other flaws, but he runs fast, and fights for the ball tough, and this is often enough to prevent counterattacks.

But this is only one side of the matter. The standard task of Krasnodar is not only not to miss a counterattack, but also to open up a multi-layered defense. But with this, things are so-so. For example, in two out of six matches of the new season, against Lokomotiv and Ural, the bulls could not score at all. In two more, against Rostov and CSKA, they scored once. And also twice, against Ufa and Arsenal, they scored more than once. Among the scoring attacks, there were spectacular and just the required genre, but not so many. The most impressive, perhaps, went against the Rostovites.

Krasnodar – Rostov. 1: 1. Marcus Berg

However, on the whole, Krasnodar’s penetrating power does not seem intimidating yet. Paradoxically, the team looks better in terms of destruction than in terms of creation. Unless, of course, we mean the scenario that suggests itself based on the gaming tastes of the parties.

However, to enter the Champions League group, one must be ready not only tactically, but also mentally. Last year’s Krasnodar, by the way, missed Olympiacos not only in counterattacks, especially at home, but in general left the impression of a team not old enough for such a serious tournament. And the current campaign will first of all check exactly this – the degree of maturity. Although, in principle, such an accent does not change much – you still want to avoid getting into the old funnel again.