With the European group stages kicking off this week, we have assembled an expert panel to discuss what we can expect from the Russian clubs this season.
Stefano Conforti (@ConfortiStefano): Writer for Russian Football News, Futbolgrad and MundoFutbol
Andrew Flint (@AndrewMijFlint): Writer for Russian Football News and Futbolgrad, Senior writer at These Football Times
Robert Ustian (@Robustmsk): Football Supporters Europe Committee Member and CSKA Moscow supporter
Toke Theilade (@TokeTheilade): Editor-in-Chief at Russian Football News, Sports editor at Mreast.dk, writer for These Football Times
Which Russian club will put up the best performance in Europe this season?
Stefano: Honesty speaking, I don’t think any of the Russian clubs competing in Europe are going to perform well. From my point of view, CSKA and Zenit have become two mediocre sides with the departures of key players like Garay, Hulk and Musa. I think the Moscow club will end dead last, but I have small hopes for Rostov, who will decide their future in the fixtures against PSV.
Despite being a big fan of Lucescu, Mak and Giuliano, I can’t see how Zenit can have a successful campaign in Europe. Krasnodar have been strongly penalized by the FFP rules and hence they didn’t get the opportunity to strengthen the team in the last transfer window. Reaching the 1/16 wouldn’t be too bad for them.
Andrew: For me the Europa League teams are Russia’s best chance of success in continental football this season. Rostov need not feel any shame in finishing bottom of their ridiculously difficult Champions League group, so anything other than a 4th place finish would be a huge success in itself. Bayern away on your group stage debut - it could hardly be any tougher. They have already shown a toughness in their qualifiers to dispatch Ajax and Anderlecht, but I don’t see much progress beyond that. CSKA have the new stadium to boost their atmosphere, and while a group of Tottenham, Leverkusen and Monaco is not as terrifying as Rostov’s, it is tough enough to make progress to the knockout stages unlikely.
That leaves Krasnodar and Zenit. I expect both to make it through their groups with relative ease, if anything because many clubs don’t seem to take the second string competition that seriously, and they both have solid squads. Once they get through - assuming they complete that virtual formality - it depends on the draw, but I would think Zenit will put pressure on themselves to reach at least the quarter finals. Ironically, I think the expectation of success will count against them, so i will pick Krasnodar to perform best.
Robert: Taking into consideration draw results, it seems to be Zenit, though I should make a remark that I’m very skeptical about perspectives of all Russian clubs in Europe for this season. Zenit will probably go through the group stage of Europa League, but nothing more than that.
Toke: Although Zenith have lost both Hulk and Garay, they remains Russia’s best option in Europe this season. They are in one of the easiest groups in the Europa League and Lucescu has proved earlier that he is great in that tournament. CSKA and Rostov are both in difficult Champions League groups, while FC Krasnodar looks a bit shaky this season.
How will CSKA Moscow’s relatively silent transfer window affect their chances in the Champions League?
Stefano: CSKA’s silent transfer window will have a dramatic effect on the Champions League performance. They’ll leave the competition as one of the worst sides of the whole tournament and the new and modern CSKA Arena can’t do anything to help them to avoid such a big disappointment. Overall, after the Euros with Russia, Slutsky is only a mediocre manager who has to rely on an ageing squad that will never take a step forward under him. Considering also, how much Evgeny Giner is stingy, I see only a disastrous Champions League for CSKA and their fans.
Andrew: Unfortunately, I think massively. Lacina Traore has had a sluggish start to his CSKA career, although he finally got off the mark with a double in the opening match at Arena CSKA against Terek, so perhaps we will see him come out of his shell. I can see he has more technical ability with the ball at his feet than most people give him credit for, but even is he does hit a rich vein of form, he can hardly take the entire burden on himself alone. Carlos Strandberg’s delightful finish this weekend offered some glimmer of optimism surrounding the forwards department, but I wonder how adventurous Slutsky will be with blooding him enough to build confidence. His talent is definitely not the problem; his lack of European experience could be.
Robert: It’s really painful to answer this question, but this European campaign might a completely lost one for us. Even Russian Premier League matches have shown that we have huge problems in scoring goals. When Orenburg, Ural and Tom’ will be replaced by Bayer, Monaco and Tottenham picture gets much darker and hopeless. But we have proven many times in our history that CSKA can sometimes do heroic things. Let’s hope for the better and not expect much from our team as this story might have a bitter end.
Toke: Starting in Pot 1, this was supposed to be CSKA’s season in Europe, but that is difficult to believe at the moment. The squad lacks depth, and I have honestly speaking lost my faith in Slutsky at international level. He has done well domestically, but seems completely out of his depth abroad.
Other than Spartak, which club do you think will fall short of expectations, and why?
Stefano: I don’t think anyone expect much from CSKA and Rostov, but disappointing campaigns from them are predictable. Krasnodar and Zenit should both get the job done, but nothing more. They’ll pass through the group stage, but won’t reach the quarterfinals.
Andrew: Despite tipping CSKA for the title in the summer Round Table, I will unfortunately have to go with them. Rostov can hardly be said to have failed as I mentioned earlier given their draw, while Zenit have a very comfortable group which might allow them to rotate some players and keep the squad relatively fresh. I actually think it is a real shame Spartak did not do the basics against AEK Larnaca because Massimo carrera looks to have got a real command of the squad and they could have had a decent run at the Europa league. The most frustrating part for me about CSKA is that they are potentially so close to being a complete squad - all that they really needed was a pacy forward who offered something different to Traore, and possibly a younger centre back, and they could legitimately have aimed at European glory to some degree.
Robert: All teams will have incredibly tough European journey. Zenit and CSKA are far from their best conditions, Rostov and Krasnodar got very difficult groups and will hardly survive there. As not much is expected from CSKA, Zenit seems to be the candidate number one to fall short of expectations, as we all agree they got the easiest group in Europa League that’s why their failure would be most surprising.
Toke: Unfortunately, this doesn’t look like a good season for Russian clubs in Europe, and they all have various worries that should be taken very seriously. In fact, Rostov is the only club who can’t disappoint me this season, as they have already impressed by reaching the group stage, and because they are in the Group of Death.
What is the minimum requirement before Zenit can call their campaign a success?
Stefano: If we consider all the changes that happened this summer, I think that reaching the 1/16 in the Europa League would be good. Lucescu needs time to build the team, so it can fight for the very highest tasks and win as many trophies as possible. Next season is going to be a “season of transition”, where the Romanian coach will learn who are exactly the players he needs and what is the right line-up for a club like Zenit. Give time to him and the Saint Petersburg team’s results in Europe will improve within 2-3 years.
Andrew: That’s an interesting question given the turnover of players and managers. Mircea Lucescu is used to sustained success at Shakhtar Donetsk, and with the resources at his disposal he must have thought he’d stroll to more silverware, but it has already proven to be less straight forward than that. The directors will be fuming to have missed out on the lucrative rewards the Champions League brings, so a lengthy run in the Europa League must be a demand they will make to the squad in order to regain some of their lost pride. Firstly, group stage winners is a must. I would suggest reaching the quarter finals is the minimum they should aim for, and anything beyond that a success.
Robert: Semifinal.
Toke: They should at least reach the quarterfinals, and from there on it depends on the opponents. I can accept quality opponents like Manchester United or some big clubs from the Champions League beating them, but it is time for the St. Petersburg outfit to prove themselves in Europe again and actually beat some difficult opponents.
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