For Krasnodar, the first match of the Champions League playoffs turned into a real disaster. Murad Musaev’s wards arrived in Piraeus in the wake of a historic victory over the “Port”, but were forced to descend from heaven to earth. The football players of the local Olympiakos helped them in this, sending four unanswered goals into the net of Matvey Safonov. Especially failed were the last 12 minutes, which contained three goals of the hosts.
After the meeting, the questions of journalists were traditionally formally answered by the head coach of Krasnodar Sergey Matveev. The mentor did not feed the hopes of the fans and admitted that the “bulls” had practically lost their chances for the first ever entry into the group stage of the most prestigious European club tournament of the Old World.
“The atmosphere in the locker room is not good now. The game was equal, but Olympiakos realized his moments. Due to Cabella's injury, it has become difficult to combine in the alien half of the field. When we scored the second, then we could sit on the defensive, but we played adventurously. Congratulations to the red and white victory. Now we’ll put all our energy into the championship, ”Matveyev said at a press conference.
Some questions were caused by the composition of the team for the first match with Olympiacos. So, the basis was not the hero of the return match with Porto - Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov. A week ago, a graduate of the Krasnodar Academy scored a double for Dragau, but appeared on Karaiskakis only in the second half. His place in the start was taken by Younes Namli, who made his game not the best impression and could not be remembered for his vivid actions.
Also a fair share of criticism from the fans received Marcus Berg. The Swedish forward was at the base in all three matches of the Champions League qualifying tournament, but so far could not score goals.
“Do not regret the selected composition? Not. We now have a difficult schedule, the composition was optimal. We haven’t changed the berg before, because it was risky to make replacements, ”the Championship quotes Matveeva.
At the same time, problems with the game for the Russian team began in the middle of the first half, when Remy Cabella was forced to leave the field. The French midfielder was injured in a clash with Omar Elabdellaui and was unable to continue the meeting, despite desperate attempts.
“As for Cabella’s injury, judging by the first assumptions, he dropped out for a long time. They did not replace him right away, because the doctors said that he could continue, ”concluded Matveev, upset.
After a severe defeat, Berg answered media questions. He also admitted that the team is in "poor condition" and expressed the view that the biggest defeat is the fault of Krasnodar, and not the merit of their counterpart.
“A little ashamed of such a game, it was not our true level. Olympiacos was good, but we allowed them to be better than they are. I am very disappointed ... Until 75 minutes we conceded in one ball, but in the end in four - this is very bad. Everything went wrong, we did not put enough pressure, we did not use the chances for counterattacks, we did not hold the ball, ”the Swedish striker shared.
According to the footballer, black and green should benefit from this failure and move on.
“Yes, we made a lot of mistakes today, but we have to look forward and be better in the next matches. There is another game. Next time we should not be mistaken, so it’s still possible, ”added Berg.
Younes Namli expressed the view that his unsuccessful performance may be due to his unusual location on the field. In the Dutch Zwolle, the Dane usually acted as an attacking midfielder, but in Krasnodar he is more often used as a left winger.
Olympiacos was much better than us, it seemed that they want to win more than us ... It was unusual to play on the left flank, but it was not in me, but in the whole team. Everyone didn’t act very well, and then Cabella got injured. But it was difficult the whole meeting, not only after replacing it. We had stupid mistakes, the opponent punished for them. You cannot go further with such a game, ”Namli emphasized.
The footballer agreed that after the second goal conceded, his partners should have acted more rationally and not throw all their forces into the attack, and also expressed hope for a comeback in the second leg.
“We’ll analyze, recover after the defeat, although this is difficult. But one must not give up, fight on, in football everything is possible. Now we need to score more, but it is important not to lower our heads. Show on the field what happened before, ”the athlete added.
One of the reasons for such a major defeat can be called the personnel losses of the southerners. So, two leaders did not immediately fly to Greece with the team - defender and captain Alexander Martynovich and forward Ari. According to the Belarusian footballer, “Krasnodar” as a whole had a very unsuccessful match and “didn’t create anything ahead.”
“In my opinion, in the second half, they ran in vain in advance, too carried away by the attack. Missed a quick counterattack - 0: 2 and that's it. We lost control of the game, and then it was already difficult to return. I have no words - I don’t know what to say, ”TASS quoted Martynovich as saying.
According to the captain, a devastating defeat should not force black and green to give up.
“In any case, we will have a return meeting, a full stadium, all tickets are sold. We have to go out and play for the fans, show good football. So that those who bought tickets worried about the team and always stayed with us. It is clear that in the return game it will be difficult to return, there are practically no chances, but we need to play for the fans, ”said the athlete.
Martynovich expressed the opinion that one of the key moments of the meeting was Cabella’s injury. According to him, after that the Russian team “lost the thread of the game” and could not create difficulties for the defenders of the opponent.
“What is his injury, it will become clear upon arrival in Krasnodar - there will be an examination and then they will say for sure. I have the same situation, ”concluded the defender.
Ari, who was also forced to watch the match on television, also commented on the unsuccessful trip to Piraeus. The forward of the Russian national team paid tribute to red and white and said that it did not work out for his partners.
Olympiacos is a very strong team, today the Greeks looked great. Our team did not play as planned, so we got such a result. Krasnodar had a lot of points today, but implementation let us down. If we scored, then everything would have turned out differently, ”Ari said.
At the same time, the striker did not put an end to the prospects of the “bulls” in the Champions League and urged the fans not to be upset ahead of time.
“I am sure that we can go further, we will play at the home stadium, this will help us. Of course, this is a very disappointing defeat, but you need to believe in yourself, this is football - everything is possible here. Remember the example of Barcelona and PSG, no one believed in the Spaniards, ”Ari added.
The disappointing results of the trip to Greece were summed up by the former head coach of Krasnodar Igor Shalimov. According to the expert, there was no integrity in the actions of the wards of Murad Musayev, and the players often did not understand how to develop the attack.
“Krasnodar did not have a game. For what reason? I watch the moment when the central defender, the defensive midfielder receives the ball, and what options are there to continue the attack. The team did not have them. The distance between the players is too big if you want to act in one or two touches. Midfielders didn’t do less than five or six, because there was no addressee, ”Shalimov said on Match TV.
According to him, a year ago, every player of the “bulls” in a separate episode had several options for the development of the offensive, but now there isn’t such a thing.
“I noticed a tendency that in the two-match confrontations“ Krasnodar ”fails the first meetings. There were difficult trips to Seville and Valencia, where black and green were driven. But to get four on such a sluggish game ... I don’t know what’s the matter, I need to understand. Let's hope (to enter the group stage of the Champions League. - RT ), but the chances are very few, ”concluded the specialist.
Former Zenit and Spartak midfielder Vladimir Bystrov expressed the opinion that the coaching staff of the “bulls” did not guess with the roster for the match in Greece.
“The carriage turned into a pumpkin and didn't go anywhere. Appeared in the starting lineup did not meet the coaching expectations. I'm talking about Namli, who came out instead of Suleymanov. The coaches made a mistake with the choice. The game did not go according to the scenario of Krasnodar. Olympiacos invented nothing, the Greeks showed their football, ”concluded Bystrov.