A pass to the high society: Krasnodar beat PAOK and made it to the group stage of the Champions League

Wanderson's injury and Klasson's absence

The new European Cup season started very badly for Russian clubs.

Dynamo and Rostov were defeated in their very first matches and were eliminated from the Europa League.

This gave the fans a reason to talk about a serious crisis in domestic football. 

Krasnodar could save the shaken reputation of the RPL, which met with the Greek PAOK in the Champions League playoff round.

The first match ended with a 2-1 home victory for the Southerners, which brought them closer to getting into the group stage.

In the event of a successful conclusion of the confrontation, for the first time in history, Russia would receive three representatives at this stage of the Champions League.

And given the country's fall in the UEFA odds table, the next such chance could not be presented soon. 

At the same time, exactly a year ago, Krasnodar came to Greece as part of the Champions League playoff round and suffered a crushing defeat from Olympiacos - 0: 4.

However, it is unlikely that Murad Musaev, on the eve of the return meeting with PAOK, recalled that failure.

Much more worried about the loss of one of the team's leaders, Wanderson.

The Brazilian suffered muscle damage a week ago and did not fly to Thessaloniki.

Christopher Olsson, who was substituted during the break in the last round of the RPL against Sochi, was not included in the application.

As a result, the coaching staff of the Russian team decided to saturate the support zone as much as possible.

Daniil Utkin and Yuri Gazinsky, who started their first match with PAOK in reserve, made Tonny de Vilhene's company.

The attacking three included Victor Klasson, Markus Berg and Remi Cabella. 

Our roster today 👇 # PAOKKrasnodar # Champions League # Champions Leaguepic.twitter.com / JHPorLTM04

- FCKrasnodar (@FCKrasnodar) September 30, 2020

PAOK pressure and Krasnodar calm

PAOK, as expected, started the match more actively.

The hosts immediately tried to suppress the guests with powerful pressure.

Abel Ferreira's wards, acting as tightly as possible, did not allow even Matvey Safonov to calmly launch attacks from their own goal.

It is not surprising that at the start of the meeting some of the southerners' players made mistakes.

In particular, Safonov performed a couple of imprecise offsets.

Several losses were made at once on the right flank of the defense by Sergei Petrov, who was opposed by fast Andrija Zhivkovic and Dimitris Yannulis.

However, PAOK's starting fuse gradually dried up, and the game calmed down somewhat.

As for Krasnodar's pressure, Berg and Utkin took part in the first line.

Klasson descended to the right flank, helping Petrov.

In turn, Cabella was on the left, but Gazinsky and Vilhena were always ready to back him up. 

The rivals exchanged their opening blows after the first third of the meeting.

First, Kayo, after filing a standard, struck straight into Zhivko Zhivkovic's hands, and then Safonov pulled the ball out of the far corner after Andriy Zhivkovic's shot.

The same Petrov allowed the Serb to break through. 

However, later Sergey calmed down and began to act more reliably.

Towards the middle of the first half, Krasnodar managed to seize the initiative, although both teams played the match in an extremely cautious manner, realizing that any mistake could be fatal.

But it was nice to know that Musaev's plan for the game is fully working.

The three midfielders in the support zone acted reliably and did not allow the opponent to attack through the center.

In extreme cases, Alexander Martynovich came to the rescue with Cayo Panteleao.

If on the left flank PAOK created at least some kind of danger, then on the right side Christian Ramirez did not allow captain Dimitris Pelkas to do anything. 

However, as soon as the southerners calm down a little, the Greek team again pushed them to the gate, and Cayo and Villena received a card.

By the way, both in the first half were marked by a number of unnecessary losses, which only due to luck did not lead to dangerous moments.

And PAOK missed his, perhaps, the most real chance to distinguish himself closer to the whistle for a break, when, after a serve from the right flank and a discount from Christos Zolis, Jose Angel Crespo, who came running, struck his head from several meters.

Safonov, who took the correct position at the goal, calmly took the ball. 

In general, Matvey made four saves in the first half, while his counterpart made only two.

It must be admitted that Krasnodar practically did not create dangerous moments, often relying on carry-overs in the direction of Berg and Cabella's solo passes.

During one of these, Remi struck from the left edge of the penalty area into the far corner, but the goalkeeper calmly coped with the threat.

However, the guests did not need to go forward, and the team showed a willingness to play according to the score.

Smolnikov's perfect exit and Cabell's accurate shot

Krasnodar started the second half more actively and even earned a couple of corners at the opponent's goal.

However, this segment did not last long.

On the contrary, with each passing minute, the southerners more and more pressed against their own gates.

Affected by fatigue after a difficult match with Sochi.

If Musaev in the RPL released all the strongest on the field, then Abel Ferreira in the last meeting of the Greek championship defeated the leaders.

Moreover, the hosts began to attack through the flanks.

So, Janulis's passage on the left edge almost ended with Pelkas' kick from a lethal position.

And after a corner gate, Safonov was almost struck by Sverrir Ingason.

Realizing that his team was starting to sit down more and more, Musaev made a decisive substitution, which helped his charges to hold back the opponent's offensive.

Instead of the tired Utkin, who was less and less able to keep up with his opponents, Igor Smolnikov appeared on the field.

To the fore, such a castling looked controversial, because the 32-year-old footballer had never played in the support zone before.

However, he was located in the center of the field a little closer to the right flank, actually taking the place of Klasson.

In turn, the Swede went to the left edge, and Cabella moved forward to Berg. 

As a result, Krasnodar made it as difficult for PAOK to approach its own goal as possible.

The hosts relied on attacks through the flanks, but now on each edge they were met by two players at once, and Cabella did not have to work out in defense. 

True, Abel Ferreira immediately answered Musaev with his substitutions.

The fast and technical Moussa Wag came to the right flank, and the tall powerful Antonio-Mirko Kolak made up a pair of Zolis in front. 

But both did not play a decisive role in this meeting.

Wag's serve was most often covered by Ramirez.

In an extreme case, Kayo was the first to hit the ball in the penalty area, who played one of the best matches for Krasnodar, although sometimes he played an adventurous dribble.

Kolak, however, was remembered only for the picturesque fall in someone else's penalty area in an attempt to earn a penalty. 

But Musaev's castling worked 100%.

Smolnikov, by his activity, forced PAOK to move the front of attacks to the right flank.

Moreover, the two-wire Igor put pressure on his opponents himself and even made them make a mistake a couple of times in someone else's half of the field. 

It is not surprising that it was Smolnikov who became the co-author of the decisive goal of Krasnodar.

A fresh footballer picked up the ball in a strange half of the field in one of the rare counterattacks, broke through with him into the penalty area on the left edge and delivered a serve.

In this episode, fortune smiled to the southerners in the face of Yoannis Mikhaylidis, who, trying to interrupt the cross, ferried the ball into his own goal.

However, after just four minutes, Krasnodar conceded.

Kayo broke the rules near his own penalty area, and Omar El-Kadduri, after filing a standard, sent the ball into the wrong goal with his head.

It seemed that the Russian team was in for a difficult ending, but at a difficult moment Musaev's wards managed to score again.

PAOK footballers, already starting to think about the final assault, did not keep track of the opponent's counterattack.

As a result, a whole group of guests' footballers fled to someone else's penalty area, and Vilhena ricocheted into the far corner.

Zhivkovic ferried the ball into the post, but could do nothing about finishing Cabell. 

After that, the outcome of the meeting was a foregone conclusion.

In the last minutes, Musaev threw Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov into battle with Ruslan Kambolov, thereby killing PAOK's last hope for at least one more goal. 

This is how Krasnodar made it to the Champions League group stage for the first time in history.

The team played a tactically competent match and outplayed the rival in the case, and Musaev made correct substitutions during the meeting.

Smolnikov's exit to a non-native position became fatal at all.