We are now only days away from the start of the Champions League and Europa League group stages, and we are happy to present to you previews of the different groups. We have teamed up with experts from around Europe to get the best coverage of the opponents of the Russian clubs.
We have already covered both Rubin Kazan and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Europa League groups, and now the time has come for the Europa League Group C where FC Krasnodar have been drawn together with Borussia Dortmund, Gabala FK and PAOK.
RFN’s own Ben Clark (@Dinoben_) has covered FC Krasnodar, while Stefan Buczko (@Bvbawesome) of Yellow Wall Pod has covered Dortmund, Elena Bodou (@elenh_mh) of Paok24.com PAOK and last but not least Vadim Furmanov (@Vfurmanov) of Futbolgrad.com Gabala FK.
FC Krasnodar:
By Ben Clark (@Dinoben_) of Russianfootballnews.com
Oleg Kononov has elevated FC Krasnodar into the top of Russian football.
After missing a Champions League spot from the virtue of not winning more games than that of CSKA Moscow, Krasnodar fell into the Europa League qualification spots. Under the guidance of Oleg Kononov, Krasnodar dispatched both Slovan Bratislava and HJK to compete in the Europa League group stages for the second successive season. Having failed to meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, the club has found it hard to strengthen for this upcoming season, as they were not allowed to buy players, which meant they could only strengthen the squad through loans and free transfers. Regardless, they have made some shrewd signings with expectations of being able to help take the club further, domestically and continentally.
One of Krasnodar’s best qualities is their solid defence. Even though it has become defective during the early parts of this year’s European campaign, it is a major contributing factor towards their success in recent years. At 38, Andriy Dikan has had a very long involvement within football and he is, without a doubt, the most experienced player in the side. In front of him, a partnership of Ragnar Sigurdsson and Andreas Granqvist solidifies Krasnodar. Their superb structure and discipline was a fundamental factor in their 1-0 away win at Everton in last season’s campaign.
Krasnodar doesn’t possess much in noted, illustrious names but if you watch them play, you might be surprised they don’t. Their midfield controls their style of play, which certainly produces some exquisite football. Pavel Mamaev’s performances within this year’s campaign has assisted Kransodar in competing in the group stages again. His creativity paired with his finishing makes him a linchpin within the side. The Russian tends to be paired alongside Yuri Gazinskiy and Stefan Strandberg but a characteristic of this team is that Kononov likes to shuffle the team around so expect to see other midfielders such as Odil Ahmedov feature during this stage of the competition.
Arguably, Krasnodar’s attack is the weakest section within the team. Lacking a lethal goal scorer, their main source of goals comes from midfield. Fedov Smolov has been a lot more impressive than partner Ari but a lack of clinical finishing may become a serious problem if they are unable to find goals elsewhere which could hinder their progress. Nonetheless, Krasnodar have already scored 10 goals in four Europa League games this season.
Even with the lack of strike power, I see Krasnodar capable enough to qualify second in the group behind Borussia Dortmund. Especially with their style of play, they should be able to control and win the games against PAOK and Gabala. As long as they don’t stumble and trip up on their lack of goal scorers, they should progress into the knockout rounds. 1. Borussia Dortmund 2. Krasnodar 3. PAOK 4. Gabala.
Borussia Dortmund
By Stefan Buczko (@Bvbawesome) of Yellow Wall Pod
When Thomas Tuchel took over at Borussia Dortmund, after the team had lost the plot in Jürgen Klopp’s final season, expectations were - and still are high. The newly assigned manager has the task to guide the club back into the Champions League, while a deep run in the Europa League is also expected.
After eight wins in eight games Tuchel seems to be right on track. BVB sit on top of the Bundesliga after four match days, leading over FC Bayern on goal difference and waltzed through the Europa League qualifying rounds against Wolfsberger AC and Odds BK.
It took a few tactical tweaks to revive Borussia’s attack that often looked forlorn and without plan in the previous season - especially against well organized and defensive minded teams.
Tuchel, whose role model is Pep Guardiola, has kept Borussia Dortmund’s trademark, which is intense Gegenpressing (counter pressing), but has changed the structure in build-up play significantly. No longer the Black and Yellows break at speed towards goal at all cost after every turn over, but try to dominate the game in a more structured and patient build-up.
As a result the games don’t look as wild, but not less beautiful. Tuchel’s more sophisticated style suits Dortmund’s technically gifted players, as it requires a lot of precision.
It helps a lot that Ilkay Gündogan is back in the form that was pivotal to reach the Champions League final in 2013. The central midfielder
Central midfielder Ilkay Gündogan plays a pivotal role for BVB.
needed almost as long to recover from a back injury that kept him out for more than a year.
Paired with 20-year-old Julian Weigl, who came in for €2.5 million from 1860 Munich, the duo is the control centre of BVB’s attacks. Both midfielders play extremely precise passes and rarely give up possession, which is instrumental for Dortmund’s ball circulation. The Black and Yellows are always looking to build tight triangles on one side of the field to lure the opposition in only to exploit the space that opens up on the other side of the field. A style that helps Shinji Kagawa and especially Henrikh Mkhitaryan to excel. Both playmakers struggled harshly to create or score goals in the past season. Now they allows more routine passes instead of improvised and often hectic head-through-wall attempts.
The Armenian has already blown the stats of last season out of the water, and has been Dortmund’s best player of the early part in the season. Even if Mkhitaryan is marked out of the game, there are still the likes of Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to look out for.
BVB’s attack has netted at least three goals in every of their last five matches, firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile the defence hasn’t been tested too much, as they are yet to meet a heavy weight. Borussia Dortmund are susceptible to conceding from set-pieces and are still prone to counter attacks, as they defend with a highline. However, their controlled style makes them less prone to be caught out in the open.
BVB are the favourites to win their Europa League group, even if Thomas Tuchel might field slightly weaker line-ups to rest key players for the Bundesliga. Either way, football fans can look forward to the games, as Borussia Dortmund will sell-out the Westfalenstadion and guarantee for a terrific atmosphere, which should set the stage for great European nights.
PAOK:
By Elena Bodou (@elenh_mh) of Paok24.com
Whatever you think you know about PAOK, just forget it. This year’s PAOK does not resemble anything from the previous years. PAOK is now a very strong after the Russian oligarch Ivan Savvidis bought the club three years ago. During these three years, he has thrown a lot of money into the club, and in May, he paid off the debt the club had assembled in the past.
After the payment on €11 million, PAOK became the first Greek club without debt. Afterwards, Savvidis hired one of the most famous sports directors in Europe, Frank Arnesen. The Dane, who has a past at PSV, Tottenham, Chelsea, HSV and Metalist Kharkiv, has fully taken over the organization of PAOK.
No coaches have survived a full season during the last three years, but the Croat Igor Tudor could do this, although we are still early into his realm. He has already achieved his first goal with getting PAOK to the Europa League group stage. Things have however not started well in the Greek league, where PAOK are currently placed ninth with only four points after three matches. Despite this, Tudor has full support from Arnesen and the club. After managing Hajduk Split in his native Croatia, PAOK is Tudor’s first major job, and the 37-year-old former Juventus defender aims to get his big breakthrough as a coach here and to create a name for himself.
Dimitar Berbatov is by far the biggest star on PAOK’s team.
PAOK’s greatest strength is Toumba Stadium. It is almost certain that the European games will be sold out, and the atmosphere is magical – at least for the players on the home team. The fans will also travel in big numbers to the away matches, and 3100 fans have already booked the trip to Dortmund.
When PAOK started their European campaign on the 16th of July, it was with a completely different team, than the one we see today. Most of the club’s transfers were made after the initial meetings with Lokomotiva Zagreb and Spartak Trnava in the early rounds. This has also meant that Tudor has not had as much time to work with the squad, as he would have wanted.
PAOK’s greatest transfer this summer was by far the acquisition of the Bulgarian striker Dimitar berbatov. The striker was an ardent desire of Savvides, who did everything possible to get him to Greece. Berbatov was added to the squad on the first day of September, and he immediately began the work of getting integrated into the squad. Of him PAOK have high expectations, especially after he was included in the Europa League squad in the very last minute.
The draw seems passable for PAOK. Neither easy nor difficult. Undoubtedly, the first favourite are Dortmund, who offer awe and thrill to players, especially from the moment they are thinking game in Westphalen. Gabala although are theoretically the weakest team in the group, but PAOK should take special notice of them after they eliminated Panathinaikos. Krasnodar is the dark horse and for PAOK an unknown club. It is important to note that the coach of PAOK did not like the group as much as he said.
Gabala FK:
By Vadim Furmanov (@Vfurmanov) of Futbolgrad.com
Gabala FK, founded just ten years ago, are currently going through the most successful period in their young history. In 2013-14, under Russian manager Yuri Semin, Gabala broke into the top three and qualified for European football for the first time, where they were immediately dumped out of the first qualifying round of the Europa League by Bosnian side Siroki Brijeg.
But Gabala’s ambitious ownership was not satisfied with such a poor showing, and last winter brought in Roman Hryhorchuk as manager. The Ukrainian manager brought over most of his coaching staff and several players with him from Chornomorets Odessa. Under his guidance the club once again finished in third place, but it is in Europe that Hryhorchuk has made the biggest impact.
Hryhorchuk has guided the club through three qualifying rounds and a playoff on their way to their first ever appearance in the group stage of a European tournament, eliminating Panathinaikos in the process. In addition, up until Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Inter Baku, Gabala had gone undefeated in league play since February.
Gabala are playing under no pressure – very few people could have expected them to qualify for the group stages after starting at the first hurdle. This could work to their advantage, as all other sides will be expected to take three points from them in every match. Hryhorchuk is also a manager with European experience, taking Chornomorets to the Round of 32 of the Europa League in 2013-14. Three members of the Gabala squad were also on that Chornomorets side, so there is some European experience among the players as well.
In August, Gabala captain Jadid Huseynov was arrested following the murder of a journalist who had criticized Huseynov for his conduct after Gabala’s victory over Apollon Limassol. The midfielder has not been sacked by the club but remains in custody and, needless to say, won’t be making any appearances in the Europa League. His presence will be missed both on the pitch and in the dressing room, and the entire affair could be a distraction off the pitch.
Gabala’s hero against Panathinaikos was the Brazilian forward Dodo. The Brazilian forward, who is the most capped player and second-highest goalscorer in the club’s history, was left on the bench for the first two
Dodo is the second highest goal scorer in Gabala’s history.
matches of the season, mainly coming on as a substitute. But in the away leg against Panathinaikos Dodo scored both goals in a 2-2 draw, sending Gabala through on away goals.
Little is expected from Gabala in their first ever campaign in the group stages of the Europa League. Getting to this point is already a massive achievement – especially when one considers that they were minutes from crashing out against Dinamo Tbilisi in the very first qualifying round.
But the squad is full of confidence, and will be encouraged by the fact that they already knocked out Panathinaikos, who finished last season above PAOK. Getting out of the group is probably too much to ask of Hryhorchuk’s men, but Azerbaijan will not be an easy place to play, and Gabala will be expected to take at least a few points from their opponents.