The fans bet on the Champions League, Bystrov’s dances and jokes about VAR: what remains of the match from the match “Lokomotiv” - “Zenith”

"How to play without Miranchuk?"

The relationship between the fans of “Locomotive” and “Zenith” can hardly be called hostile, but the metropolitan authorities with great attention approached the organization of the central match of the 11th round of the RPL. Additional orders of law enforcement officers were pulled to the Cherkizovsky stadium, and spectators, hurrying to the arena in different club colors, were led in two opposite streams.

However, it would be problematic to meet on the square near the stadium two competing camps - most of the fans from St. Petersburg arrived on the stadium by bus, and the hosts' fans mostly got to play the metro.

In the crowd next to the arena checkpoints, a group of young pupils of the Loko Academy stood out most clearly. Hurrying to the match of idols, future players actively discussed the personnel problems of red-green.

“How are we going to play without the Miranchuk now?” The children asked a question and immediately found a reasoned answer.

“In the Champions League, they played normally, which means they can do it,” - the pupils of Lokomotiv predicted the success of their team.

It is worth noting that, despite the full house, Russian Railways Arena successfully coped with the influx of spectators. The work of the control and distribution services employees allowed everyone, even late fans, to take their places even before the starting whistle.

Russian classics and surroundings of the theater

The theme of the confrontation between the two capitals formed the basis for preparing for the match itself. As RT was told in the Lokomotiv press service, taking as the basis the established opinion that St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia, the Russian Railways Arena was decided to be turned into a real classical theater for the evening.

So, in the square near the stadium, fans were met by animators in costumes of different eras, as well as actors who tried on the roles of the great Russian classics Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol.

The theme of Russian classics even made adjustments to the established protocol of the stadium: the usual announcement of a break was replaced with an “intermission”, and the theater’s starting whistle was preceded by three theater bells.

As part of a game day with rivals from the “cultural capital”, a long-time fan of red-greens, actor Valery Barinov announces the Loko squad Л #LokoZenit #BestKollektivpic.twitter.com / EpaxFBcCb8

However, a real surprise for the fans was the announcement of the starting lineup of Lokomotiv, which turned into a performance. The main role was played by the People's Artist of Russia, a close friend of Yuri Semin and a longtime fan of red-green Valery Barinov. He read out a poem poem in which the names of the players of the starting lineup were rhymed.

Champions League Prep

Despite the principle of the match, active fans of both teams surprised the audience by not preparing any large-scale performances for the game. As it became known to RT, this is due to the fact that the fan associations of United South and Landskrona focused on preparing for the Champions League matches.

At the same time, the attitude of the fans among the two teams was polar. Even before the starting whistle, in a conversation with RT correspondents, Lokomotiv fans admitted that for them the result of a meeting with a team from St. Petersburg is more important than the upcoming game with Atletico Madrid.

“Of course, the Champions League is a significant event for us, but from the point of view of the struggle, Zenit is a greater irritant. Today's victory will be many times more expensive than any result that the team will show on Tuesday, ”said Mikhail Kuznetsov, a Loko fan.

In turn, guests from the city on the Neva admitted that you won’t be surprised for a long time with victories in the Russian championship.

“For Zenit, this is not so status. Champions League is another matter. The tournament is important not only for the team, but also for us. This is a great opportunity to show the whole of football in Europe what our fans are capable of. So we hope that the club will go as far as possible, ”said one of the blue-white-blue fans.

However, the lack of large-scale promotions did not affect the fans' habitual for principle matches. Obscene appeals to the vis-a-vis were alternately heard from opposite stands, and guests from St. Petersburg used several pyrotechnic devices. In addition, fans of both teams closely watched what was happening in the stands of the stadium. Fans of red and green made a standing ovation to the ex-president of their club Valery Filatov, and the Zenith fan turn focused on Vladimir Bystrov.

And how could they even see him? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/fqRdBzjkLR

Noting in the VIP sector of the former striker Spartak and Zenit, who had not yet established relations with the St. Petersburg audience, the guest sector performed an offensive song for him. However, Bystrov himself was not at a loss. Grabbing the motive, he even demonstrated several dance moves.

VAR is watching you

However, the most discussed topic among fans and journalists was the emotional speech of Fyodor Smolov during the break of the match. Loko striker did not hide his disappointment from the referee’s decision to cancel his goal after watching the video replay and sent an angry tirade to the opponent and the RFU.

“Still, with the“ Zenith ”we will count a goal! In principle, you can finish everything, give them first place and play only the second. The calendar is for them: we play at 11 in the morning, at 10 in the evening, and then again at 11. They do not transfer the game for one day. I don’t know what to say here. It’s unpleasant when they don’t score a goal for your team, ”said the striker live on the Match TV channel.

Seconds after the broadcast, Smolov’s words were spoken throughout the stadium. In fact, the fans and journalists spent the entire break of the match, again and again watching on their gadgets a fragment of the broadcast with a passionate speech by the striker.

There were some jokes about the work of the VAR system in matches with Zenit. Journalists from the capital ironically reminded their colleagues that earlier in a match with Spartak in favor of the country's champions, one goal had already been canceled, to which reporters from the banks of the Neva River responded with a fashion hoodie with the inscription: "VAR is watching you."

Lokomotiv coach Yuriy Semin after his team's first goal was ruled out by VAR and the second one went in like a sniper bullet😂 pic.twitter.com/jBba9Kfxzu

Yuri Semin, head coach of Loko, also showed an irony to the video assistance system. The 72-year-old coach was already active throughout the match, but after a goal that was victorious, he finally gave vent to emotions and jokingly showed the referees three times a symbolic gesture in the form of a TV screen.

However, after the match, an experienced specialist recognized his actions as wrong, referred to emotions and emphasized again that he welcomed the start of the VAR system in the Russian Premier League.