Feasible rivals, an easy calendar in the RPL and a chance for rehabilitation: why CSKA is Russia's main hope in European competitions

Modest prospects in the Champions League

The current European Cup season is truly unique for Russia.

For the first time in history, the country was represented in the UEFA Champions League group stage by more teams than in the Europa League group stage.

Dynamo and Rostov lost to their class-inferior rivals in qualifying and finished their performance in the international arena ahead of schedule, while Krasnodar knocked out the Greek PAOK and joined Zenit and Lokomotiv in the most prestigious tournament of the Old Sveta.

Of course, such an impressive representation in the Champions League delighted the Russian fans.

However, the coin has a downside.

It consists in the fact that domestic teams are likely to experience problems with a set of points.

And this, in turn, will affect the position of Russia in the UEFA coefficient table, in which it is in seventh place.

The lot was not and could not be favorable to the railway workers because of the too low sowing.

In the matches against the current trophy holder Bayern Munich and the formidable Atletico Madrid, Marko Nikolic's charges will hardly be able to get at least a couple of draws in their current state.

In any case, last season, the red-greens, under the leadership of Yuri Semin, lost twice to Madrid (0: 2, 0: 2).

It will not be easy with Salzburg, because the Austrian champion a year ago fought on equal terms with Liverpool and Napoli.

Accordingly, the "railroad workers" risk for the third time in a row to take fourth place in the group with the minimum point baggage.

Krasnodar and Zenit were more fortunate, but only at first glance.

Southerners as debutants will have a hard time a priori.

At the same time, they got into the quartet of experienced European fighters - Chelsea and the multiple winner of the Europa League, Sevilla.

Spartak fans may recall the devastating defeat of the Spanish team at Otkritie Arena (1: 5), but it is no coincidence that Julen Lopetegui's charges took another title, leaving Roma, Manchester United and Inter in the playoffs out of work. ".

Chelsea have not needed an introduction for a long time.

Regardless of who goes on the field and leads the team, she is used to solving the most ambitious tasks.

And Rennes, although making its debut in the Champions League, like Krasnodar itself, is unlikely to be content with the role of an outsider.

Julien Stefan's team finished third in Ligue 1 following the results of the last shortened season and tops the standings in the new one.

Finally, Zenit got a group comparable to last year: Borussia Dortmund, Lazio, Bruges.

Some even consider Petersburgers to be favorites, but the cost of the German team, according to Transfermarkt, is almost five times higher (€ 591 million versus € 155 million), and the Italian team is three times (€ 349 million).

And most importantly, the Russian champion has no stars of the level of Erling Holland, Jadon Sancho or Ciro Immobile, who scored 36 goals in Serie A last season and outstripped even Cristiano Ronaldo in the tournament scorers race.

Thus, Zenit can either succeed and leave the group in first place, or fail and finish last.

In the end, no one guarantees six points in the confrontation with Brugge to the Russian team either.

Good odds in the Europa League

In the current circumstances, when domestic representatives may not be able to count on a successful performance in the Champions League and the third place with the possibility of qualifying in the Europa League playoffs will become their ultimate dream, the main responsibility for replenishing the piggy bank in the UEFA coefficient table will fall on CSKA.

The Europa League has traditionally been considered a "Russian" competition for the past ten years.

So, Zenit won all six matches in the group stage of the tournament in 2010.

In the same year, the army team scored 16 points out of 18 possible, having drawn only with the Czech Sparta in the last round.

And in 2014, the achievement of Petersburgers (six victories in the group) was repeated by Dynamo.

However, the weight of points earned in the UEFA coefficient table in both competitions is the same.

For a victory in the group round of the Champions League and UEL, the team receives two points, for a draw - one, and for a defeat - zero.

The points scored are divided by the number of teams representing the country in the current season, that is, in the case of Russia, by six.

That is, in the case of the most successful performance, CSKA can earn two points, which will help the country keep up with the sixth place, which gives the right to declare three teams in the Champions League.

CSKA also needs to be rehabilitated for the failure last season.

Then the charges of Viktor Goncharenko took fourth place in a much more passable group with the Bulgarian "Ludogorets", the Hungarian "Ferencvaros" and the outsider Examples "Espanyol".

As a result, the red-blue team scored only five points and suffered a memorable away defeat from Ludogorets with a score of 1: 5.

However, the setbacks in the international arena fell on the team's serious decline.

CSKA also lost points in the RPL, and Goncharenko could only count on a limited number of players.

Now the team is in a much better position.

Firstly, the club carried out a large-scale transfer campaign, the colors of the army team were supplemented by Chidera Edzhuke, Adolfo Gaich, Bruno Fuchs and Baktiyor Zainutdinov, thanks to which the coaching staff was able to boldly rotate and experiment.

Secondly, the RPL calendar should help the red and blue.

All the most difficult matches in the national championship before the end of the first round - with Zenit, Rubin, Krasnodar, Spartak and Lokomotiv - they have already played.

In the fall, after a pause for the tournaments of the national teams of the army team, they will have home matches with Dynamo, Arsenal, Rostov and Sochi, and away matches with Rotor and Rubin.

Thus, in this segment, CSKA will not only not have to play with the giants, but also practically will not need to travel outside Moscow, which should contribute to a successful performance in the LE.

Feasible rivals for CSKA

At the same time, the rivals of CSKA in the group of domestic fans should not be underestimated.

All of them, with the exception of the Austrian "Wolfsberg", represent a serious force and have a wealth of European Cup experience.

Dinamo Zagreb is a real forge of stars.

Pupils of the club play in the leading teams of the planet (Mateo Kovacic - in Chelsea, Luka Modric - in Real Madrid, Shima Vrsaljko - in Atletico).

There are enough young talents in the blue-white lineup even now.

For example, 18-year-old defender Joshko Guardiol will go to Leipzig next year.

The German team at such a young age was not afraid to pay € 16 million for it.

At the same time, Dynamo regularly play in the main tournaments of European cups and have played five times in the Champions League group stage over the past nine years.

And in 2019, the Croatian champion reached the 1/8 finals of the LE.

The confrontation with Feyenord will be especially interesting for domestic fans, since it has been headed by former coach of the Russian national team and Zenit Dick Advocaat since October 2019.

The experienced specialist turned 73 on September 27, but he is not going to end his career yet. 

In 2017, Rotterdam became the champions of the Netherlands for the 15th time and since then have dropped out of the top three of the national championship only once.

Like Dynamo, Feyenord relies on the education and sale of young players.

Right now, the main talent of the team is 19-year-old Orcan Kökçü, whom Transfermarkt estimates at € 17.5 million. London Arsenal are already showing serious interest in him.

As for the performance in European competitions, last year Advocaat's charges also reached the group stage of the LE, but, like CSKA, took the last place with five points.

Finally, Wolfsberg is the least eminent club that got into Group E. The team spent most of its history in the lower divisions and only in the late 2010s made the favorites reckon with themselves.

Ferdinand Feldhofer's team finished last season in third place.

At the same time, in the summer, the Austrians lost their main striking force.

The Spanish "Valladolid" moved to the Israeli striker Sean Weissman, who scored 30 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches.