For CSKA, the meeting with Feyenoord was, if not decisive, then extremely important.
After two rounds, Viktor Goncharenko's wards had two points to their credit and were only ahead of Dynamo Zagreb in the standings in terms of additional indicators.
At the same time, the victory over the main outsider of the quartet allowed the team not only to take a clean second place, but also, under certain conditions, become the leader of the group.
True, this happened in the event that Wolfsberg lost points in the confrontation with the Croats.
On paper, the army team could be considered favorites.
They were supported not only by the unsuccessful performances of the Dutch in the Europa League, but also by the losses with which the opponents approached the match.
If CSKA could not count on only four defenders, among whom only Georgy Shchennikov had the status of a base player, then Feyenoord lost seven performers in all lines at once.
Among the injured was one of the team's top scorers last season, Luis Sinisterra.
In general, Goncharenko did without serious rotation and put on the field almost the same lineup as in the RPL round 13 game with Rotor.
As expected, the goalkeeper and defensive lines remained unchanged, and in the midfield the place of Alan Dzagoev was taken by Ivan Oblyakov.
In the attack, instead of Fyodor Chalov, Chidera Ejuke came out.
The CSKA mentor argued for this change by the fact that the ex-Heerenveen forward has experience of playing in the Eredivisie and will feel comfortable at the De Kuyp arena.
For Russian fans, the meeting with Feyenoord was of great interest for several reasons at once.
Firstly, the team is headed by Dick Advocaat, who is known for his work with both the St. Petersburg Zenit and the Russian national football team.
And Urosh Spaich came out in the center of defense from the first minutes.
Krasnodar still owns the rights to the Serb, but in the tough conditions of the limit, it decided to bet on Cayo and send the Serb on loan.
From the very first minutes it became clear that the guests would not be able to win their first victory in the European Cup campaign without difficulty.
Although CSKA tried to carry out dangerous attacks on a regular basis, it still acted as number two.
Often, Goncharenko's wards pressed hard against their goal and gave the opponents too much space to attack.
Already in the opening, Orkun Kyokchu and Mark Dimers almost took advantage of this, who had good chances to excel.
But in the first case the ball missed the target, and in the second Igor Akinfeev made a spectacular save.
At CSKA, Nikola Vlasic looked brighter than others, already in the first minutes he was dangerously close to the opponent's goal.
True, he failed to deliver serious problems to Justin Beilo.
A low kick from outside the penalty area fell exactly into the hands of the goalkeeper.
As always, Edjuke was active, but he was let down by his unwillingness to combine with partners.
The Nigerian tried to do everything alone, but was not able to beat the entire defense of the team from Rotterdam.
Already in the 31st minute, Goncharenko was forced to make the first change.
Mario Fernandez received an injury to the back of the thigh and was replaced by Alan Dzagoev.
The main character of the match with "Rotor" took his usual place in the center of midfield, and Konstantin Maradishvili moved to the right flank of the defense.
The roster for the game in Rotterdam #FeyenoordCSKApic.twitter.com / E4qm0xDY0e
- PFC CSKA Moscow (@pfc_cska) November 5, 2020
At first it might seem that this change had a negative impact on CSKA's game.
The guests gave the initiative to the opponent and allowed him to disturb Akinfeev several times.
But towards the end of the half, the red and blue managed to equalize the position and even be remembered for a couple of dangerous approaches to the gate of Beilo.
First, Konstantin Kuchaev elegantly struck with the heel after Maradishvili's cross from the flank, and then Edzhuke scored a good long-range strike.
True, Feyenoord had the last word.
Steven Berguis opened great in the penalty area and had a great chance to score, but Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov prevented the ball from crossing the line.
The first third of the second half was not remembered for bright episodes.
At first, the guests had more possession of the ball, but over time they allowed the hosts to level the game.
And already in the 63rd minute, CSKA was in the role of catching up.
Maradishvili stumbled on the ball and allowed Feyenoord to get the ball five meters from the border of the penalty area.
The Dutch quickly delivered the ball to the right flank, and a second later Rigesiano Haps closed the Bergeuis cross and opened the scoring.
Goncharenko tried to shake up the team and released Fyodor Chalov instead of Konstantin Kuchaev, but this replacement had the opposite effect.
CSKA began to experience serious problems with delivering the ball to the opponent's half of the field and began to combine too much in its third of the field, for which it was punished very quickly.
In just a minute, the army team made a mistake twice at their own penalty area and allowed Feyenoord to increase the score to a large one.
First, Kokchu scored a powerful long-range strike, and then Lutsarel Gertreida closed the multi-move.
Finding himself in a hopeless position, Goncharenko decided to give the substitutes a chance and made three substitutions at once.
Nair Tiknizyan, Viktor Vasin and Kristiyan Bistrovich appeared on the field.
The results were not long in coming.
Already in the 80th minute, Chalov made a throw into the penalty area, but hit exactly the head of Marcos Senesi.
Ricochet disorientated the goalkeeper and allowed CSKA to reduce the handicap.
The army team failed to build on the success.
In the remaining time, they tried to attack, but were able to deliver only one blow to the enemy's goal.
CSKA lost 1: 3 to Feyenoord and suffered its first defeat in the Europa League.
Viktor Goncharenko's charges have two points left, as a result of which they dropped to the last, fourth place in the group.