Injuries of leaders, problems in the attack, lack of self-preservation instinct: what is behind the failure of Krasnodar in the Champions League

On the eve of “Krasnodar” suffered one of the largest defeats in history, losing away “Olympiacos” in the playoff round of the Champions League qualification. Four unanswered goals against Matvey Safonov almost completely crossed out the hopes of the wards of Murad Musaev to enter the group stage of the competition. Previously, no team was able to win back such a lag in the selection of the most prestigious European club tournament.

Despite the fact that the defeat in Piraeus is unexpected, it can be explained logically by turning off the emotional coloring. Of course, one of the main reasons for the fiasco was the injury of the leading players in the person of Ari, Alexander Martynovich, as well as Remy Cabella, who was forced to leave the field during the first half.

Given the four goals conceded, the absence of their captain and defense leader became especially fatal for the “bulls”. Martynovich can hardly be called a football player of an elite level, but he managed to become an integral part of the current defense of Krasnodar, which was perfectly noticeable in a meeting with the red and white. If Uros Spayic more or less coped with his duties, then John Goodni Fjoluson regularly made positional errors and was guilty of at least two goals conceded.

Thus, this match once again showed that Krasnodar needs to strengthen not only the attacking and midline, but also the defensive. Martynovich’s injury exposed the team’s problem, which is unlikely to be solved at the expense of its own reserves. At the moment, Musaev simply does not have alternative options, therefore, the only way out is to acquire a high-quality central defender.

In general, while the transfer campaign of the southerners makes an ambiguous impression. Strengthening without any reservations can only be considered the acquisition of Tonni de Vilena. The rest of the newcomers are rather upset. This also applies to Ruslan Kambolov. In the offseason, he was acquired to replace the age, but at the same time, Charles Caboré, who did not want to go to cut salaries.

In the confrontation with Olympiacos, the supporting midfielder took part in two missed goals of his team at once, helping to organize the opponent’s counterattacks. The Russian kept the ball for a long time in search of options for the transfer, which allowed the Greeks to successfully cover the players in black and green. It was the unsuccessful passes of the midfielder that caused the accurate blows of Miguel Guerrero and Lazar Rangelovich.

But if the appearance on the field of Fjoluson and Kambolov was almost inevitable due to the lack of an adequate replacement, then the appearance in the starting lineup of Markus Berg and Younes Namli raised serious questions. This primarily concerns the Swede, who so far has not been able to clearly demonstrate why he was invited to the team.

Obviously, Krasnodar needed a textured forward that could replace Ari, who was injured. According to the description, Berg was great for this role, especially taking into account his vast experience of performances and excellent statistics in the last two seasons. So, in 58 matches he chalked up 46 goals and 12 assists, albeit for Al Ain from the UAE.

However, in Russia, Marcus has not yet shown his best qualities, even despite the trust of the coaching staff. So, he started at the heart of all three matches of the Champions League qualification, but he was remembered exclusively for missed opportunities.

As for Namli, his appearance on the field would not have raised questions if it had not been for the magnificent game of Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov in a return meeting with Porto. In Greece, everyone expected to see the young pupil of the team at the base, but Younes took his place. In light of this, the Danes were doomed to be evaluated under a microscope, and he also had a rather faded match. Together with Berg's failure, it is not surprising that after the final whistle, the team mentor Sergei Matveev had to answer questions about the advisability of choosing the composition.

The coaching staff preferred the legionnaires to the graduates of the academy and miscalculated. Suleimanov and Ivan Ignatyev at least would not have spoiled the impression of the team playing in the attack, where in the last meeting the Kubans did very little. Given the activity of the hosts, both players would be able to successfully disperse the counter-attacks, and Ivan could create serious problems for the invoice and clumsy defenders of the Greeks.

If Musaev was set to play the second number, then the appearance of Berg seems even more illogical. At 33, the Swede no longer has high speed, which was clearly confirmed in the middle of the second half. Marcus could escape one on one with Jose de Sa, but quickly realized that he could not escape from his pursuers and shot past the gate.

Subsequently, Suleymanov and Ignatiev still appeared on the field, but this happened too late. The first replaced Namli at the end of an hour of the game, and the second - Berg ten minutes later. By this time, Cabella had already dropped out due to an injury, and Krasnodar first lost the thought in the attack, and then completely forgot about caution.

For four goals conceded, the inexpressive game of the “bulls” in the attack fell a bit into the background. So, for the entire match, the visitors delivered twice as few shots on goal for Jose de Sa than their opponents (9:20), and the shot went on target even less - only twice. For comparison, the owners bothered Safonov eight times, and realized half the attempts.

However, this is also not something new for “Krasnodar” sample of the current season. With the exception of the 30-minute extravaganza at Dragau, Musayev’s wards practically did not show a holistic game ahead, as a result of which they did not mark a single goal in the five remaining halves of the qualifying tournament - three with Porto and two with Olympiakos. This suggests that so far the head coach has not been able to teach the team to exist without injured Viktor Klasson and Yuri Gazinsky, as well as Mauricio Pereira and Charles Cabore, who left southern Russia.

The triumph in Portugal is due rather to the incredible mood of the team, multiplied by the relaxation of the “dragons” after the guest success, as well as the fantastic game of Suleimanov. However, even in that match, serious creation problems were noticeable.

In addition, a long-standing illness of Krasnodar reappeared in Greece. He has long taught that he is pathologically unable to make the endings of important matches - both in the RPL and in European competitions. It is enough to recall the last two duels with Zenit. So, in the past season, black and green missed a chance to compete for the championship, and this year - to become the leader of the standings. This also includes the goal in the 87th minute in a guest meeting with Bayer, as well as in the 93rd in a home game with Valencia, which deprived the bulls of their tickets to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

The fiasco in Greece only once again reminded of the absence of the instinct of self-preservation at Krasnodar, which has repeatedly manifested itself in the course of key meetings. Perhaps Piraeus was affected by the absence of Musaev on the coaching bridge, which did not allow him to properly influence his wards at the right time. However, the fact remains that the Bulls regularly make the same mistakes. And three goals in the last 12 minutes of regular time - clear evidence of this.