“Musaev’s wards can reach the semifinals”: ​​Kornaukhov on the start of Krasnodar and CSKA in the Europa League

- At the start of the season, they talked a lot about the crisis in CSKA. Is it possible to say that the army team managed to deal with game problems?

- I do not think that at the beginning of the championship the army team was in a crisis situation. Yes, they experienced certain difficulties due to the frequent injuries of football players. In general, CSKA acts at its own level - somewhere a little better, somewhere a little worse.

- Given the extremely short bench, will the army team have enough forces on two fronts?

- Sure. The team knew that this year it would have to represent the country in the Europa League, play two days later in the third, and purposefully prepared for this.

- Viktor Goncharenko hardly expected that several important football players would be injured at once ...

- Of course, there are losses, but they are replenished. The red and blue have young players who are ready to enter the field in important meetings. In addition, Arnor Sigurdsson should recover soon. The same applies to Alan Dzagoev. Let's see how serious damage Cedric Gogua received. So far, there is no panic.

- In the Europa League, not the biggest prizes, but for CSKA, traditionally in the first place is getting into the Champions League. Perhaps the team should sacrifice performance in the European Cup and focus on the championship?

- Football players do not think about this when they enter the field. They have the task to win. Whether this turns out or not is another question. But they are tuned exclusively to break into the playoffs.

- Given the complexity of the Lokomotiv and Zenit groups, it is possible that the main burden for scoring points for the country in the UEFA coefficient table will fall on CSKA and Krasnodar. Is this motivation for the army?

- For the players, the main thing is victory. Undoubtedly, these points are calculated and play an important role not only for Russia, but also for the clubs themselves, but athletes are unlikely to think about it. Points to the piggy bank of Russia are not the main motivation, but only a bonus.

- Fyodor Chalov does not score for four matches, if you count the games for CSKA and the youth team. Did your opponents adapt to it, or was last year's title of the best RPL scorer just a coincidence?

- Last year’s success changed the attitude of his rivals. They began to keep a close eye on him. Such situations happen: the striker may not score a couple of games, but then score a goal and put an end to such conversations. It should be noted that Chalov is growing up and continues to gain experience.

- Could this be due to his disappointment due to the disruption of the transition to Crystal Palace?

“I don't think so.” Fedor is an adequate guy and understands that if he wants to arouse interest in the future from the clubs of Europe in general and the Premier League, in particular, he needs to be given the result here. Otherwise, dreams of England will remain dreams.

- Perhaps, such results are an occasion to stop persistently talking about Chalov’s invitation to the Russian team?

- At that time, the situation was very clear. The Russian team has Artyom Dziuba, who is her main striker. It was clear that Chalov did not immediately get a chance to gain a foothold in the base. It makes no sense to keep him on the bench if he can help the youth national team.

- In the last match of the RPL with Tambov, defender Cedric Gogua was injured. Can his loss be considered critical for CSKA?

- Of course, the lack of key defensive line players is a problem for CSKA. But this often happens. Goncharenko will find someone to release in defense. There are Igor Diveev, Hordur Magnusson, as well as youth guys. You can say how serious this loss will be only after the meeting.

“What impression did Gogua make on you?”

- A good, quality defender. A big plus is that he adapted very quickly in the team, but now stability is needed.

- Gogua immediately became a player of the basic structure. Already now he can be considered the leader of the defense of CSKA?

- To state this, you need to watch him at least for ten matches. He held two meetings qualitatively and even scored a goal, but in some episodes there was a lack of teamwork with partners.

- In the match with Tambov for CSKA, Lucas Santos made his debut. Qualitative gain?

- I hope so. But while he was on the field only about 15 minutes, and during this time it is very difficult to get an idea about the athlete. He has good qualities: he is explosive, has good dribbling. In addition, a football player, by definition, cannot be bad if he is among the candidates for the Brazil national team.

- There is no impression that Nikola Vlašić has strongly passed in comparison with himself, a sample of the fall of 2018?

Perhaps he is not completely ready physically. Because of his performance at the European Youth Championship, he had little rest and later turned out to be in the club’s location. I think he will get in shape and in the near future fans will see the former Vlašić.

- Doesn’t it seem to you that CSKA made a mistake by laying out € 15 million for it in the summer?

- Of course not.

- What to expect from the match between CSKA and Ludogortsy?

- He will be heavy. The Bulgarians will run forward, but the level of Muscovites will help them take control of the game. I hope CSKA will win.

- In the summer, Krasnodar held a large-scale transfer campaign for the Champions League. Given these amplifications, is he able to break into the semifinals of the Europa League?

- To begin with, the bulls need to focus on leaving the group, and only then it will be possible to talk about further tournament prospects. Given the level of players, Musayev’s wards can reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.

- How do you evaluate the work of Krasnodar in the transfer period?

- High-quality performers were acquired. It is unfortunate that Remy Cabella was seriously injured. In general, the team is doing well now: it leads the RPL, has a deep roster, and the acquired players demonstrate a very vivid game in individual meetings. In addition, Yuri Gazinsky should be back in operation for the second part of the championship.

- In all the Champions League qualification matches, Marcus Berg was the main player, but Ari, who recently recovered from an injury, regularly starts in the RPL. Should we expect the return of the Swede to the Europa League?

- Why not? I think it all depends on the tactical scheme of the team. While at the start, Ari comes out, who is in great shape and is the number one striker in Krasnodar. But do not forget about Ivan Ignatiev.

- Former Zenit and Spartak footballer Vladimir Bystrov compared Berg to a tree. Do you agree with this assessment?

- Of course not. In my opinion, he is a pretty good striker, but so far he has not been able to adapt to the style of the “bulls”. He is trying, but so far he has not succeeded. It remains to be seen whether Berg will benefit the team in the future.

- Do Tony Villena and Younes Namli make a more pleasant impression on you?

- Individually strong players, but the fact is that so far they also have not been able to fully fit into the game of Krasnodar. At the moment it does not look very organic, but I'm sure that they will help the team.

- In the summer, not a single central defender was acquired. In your opinion, the selection service should not have paid special attention to the search for players of this role?

- I do not think that Krasnodar has a problem with the defenders. In my opinion, the team is all right on the defensive.

- With such a defense, “Krasnodar” is able to win the RPL?

- Sure.

- Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov scored five goals and is the top scorer in black and green. How would you rate his status in the team?

- Suleymanov has already become the iron player of the base of Krasnodar. Yes, in some matches he came on as a substitute, and missed several meetings due to injury, but in general he appears stably at the start.

- Consequently, we should expect the appearance of Suleymanov in the first team in the match with Basel?

- Of course.

- What should Krasnodar be afraid of in a meeting with Basel?

- A good, organized team. At the moment, there is no leader in it, but there are talented players who can lead. Basel regularly and fairly successfully performs in European competitions.