This season of European competition is shaping up for the Russian teams extremely unfortunate.

In the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League, Zenit, Lokomotiv, Krasnodar and CSKA did not win a single victory in 16 matches and scored only seven points in four.

And only the “railwaymen” can take part in the international tournament.

Marko Nikolic's men got the formidable Atletico and Bayern rivals in the quartet, but they have already taken points from Madrid twice and almost drew with Munich.

The fifth round will be in many ways fateful for the Russian teams, because in it they may well save an unsuccessful season for themselves.

So, Krasnodar and Lokomotiv, in case of victories over Renn and Salzburg, respectively, guarantee themselves a pass to the playoffs of the LE, and the red-greens will also continue to fight for a ticket to the 1/8 finals of the Champions League.

In turn, three points in the meetings with Club Brugge and Wolsfberg will help Zenit and CSKA to significantly increase their chances of getting into the European Cup spring and rehabilitate themselves in front of the fans for their indistinct performance on the international arena.

However, even if the Russian teams fail to increase their contribution to the UEFA coefficient table (3.833 points), and their track record will never add more victories, this season is unlikely to be the worst for the country on the international stage.

RT recalls the most unsuccessful European competitions for the country.

Season-2000/01 (3,833 points scored)

Spartak (second group stage of the Champions League), Lokomotiv (1/16 UEFA Cup finals), CSKA, Torpedo, Dynamo, Alania (1/64 UEFA Cup finals)

Exactly 20 years ago, Russian teams also contributed 3,833 points to the country's treasury in the UEFA season-end odds table.

However, it turned out to be quite contradictory.

So, "Spartak" for the last time really flashed brightly in the Champions League.

At the stage of the first group stage, the then-current Russian champion scored 12 points in the confrontation with Real Madrid, Bayer, and Sporting.

In Moscow, Oleg Romantsev's charges did not lose a single point, and the fans especially remembered their home victory over Madrid in the snowy Luzhniki Stadium.

Even the sensational departure of Andrey Tikhonov after the defeat in Spain did not prevent the team.

Spartak also started the second group stage with a home victory.

The champion of Russia defeated London Arsenal thanks to goals from Marco, Yegor Titov and Robson - 4: 1.

This meeting has forever gone down in the history of national football.

Unfortunately, in the next five matches, the Muscovites scored only one point (a draw with Lyon - 1: 1) and failed to reach the quarterfinals.

In 2000, Lokomotiv made its debut in the Champions League, but the first pancake came out lumpy.

A step before the first group stage, the railroad workers could not oppose anything to the Turkish "Besiktash" (0: 3, 1: 3).

But after that, Yuri Semin's charges went through two rounds in the UEFA Cup, overcoming the resistance of the Bulgarian "Neftekhimik Burgas" and Bratislava "Inter".

The red-greens could not cope with the Spanish Rayo Vallecano in the 1/16 finals (0: 0, 0: 2).

The other four Russian teams were eliminated already at the 1/64 final of the UEFA Cup.

CSKA lost to the team from the north of Europe in the second season in a row.

If in 1999 the army team was knocked out of the fight in the Champions League by the Norwegian Molde, then in 2000 - the Danish Viborg thanks to a goal in stoppage time.

In turn, Torpedo suffered two defeats from the Swiss Lausanne Sport (2: 3, 0: 2), and Dynamo, after being defeated away from Lilleström (1: 3), failed to play the handicap at home (2: 1).

Finally, Alania, already beginning to experience financial problems, conceded five unanswered goals from the Polish Amika in two games.

  • A match between the teams "Spartak" (Moscow) and "Arsenal" (Great Britain).

    Luzhniki Olympic Stadium

  • RIA News

  • © Dmitry Korobeinikov

1996/97 season (3,666 points)

Alania, Dynamo, Torpedo, CSKA (1/32 of KUEFA), Spartak (1/16 of the UEFA Cup), Lokomotiv (1/8 of the Cup Winners' Cup).

In 1996, six teams represented Russia in European competitions for the first time.

The company "Alania", "Lokomotiv", "Spartak", "Dynamo" and "Torpedo" was made up of CSKA, which received the right to start in the UEFA Cup based on the fair play rating.

But this season turned out to be a real disaster for the country.

Already on October 31, the last representative of Russia completed his performance on the international arena.

And the teams experienced problems literally in every match.

The debut in the Champions League was not a success for Alania, which in 1995 became the champion of Russia for the first time in history.

In the qualifying round, the Vladikavkaz team met with what seemed quite feasible for them an opponent - Glasgow Rangers.

And even the defeat in Scotland (1: 3) left Valery Gazzaev's wards chances.

However, at home they lost in all respects - 2: 7, conceding three goals from Allie McCoyst by the 18th minute.

In the UEFA Cup, Alania did not stay late either, losing to Anderlecht (2: 1, 0: 4).

On the same day CSKA, Dynamo and Torpedo finished their performance in the tournament.

If the final defeat of the blue and white in the confrontation with Roma with a total score of 1: 6 did not come as a surprise, then the departure of the army team from Feyenoord and especially the Avtozavodites from Tbilisi Dynamo was an unpleasant surprise. 

However, this season could have turned out to be even more disastrous for Russia if Spartak and Lokomotiv in the first round of the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, respectively, were defeated by two Croatian teams - Dynamo and Varazdina.

The young team of Georgy Yartsev, who played in the Champions League quarterfinals back in the spring, had to recoup in Moscow after the defeat in Zagreb - 1: 3.

And the railroad workers, having won at home with a minimum score over the debutant of European cups and scoring on the road, conceded twice after the break and stopped one step away from relegation.

Further in the 1/32 finals "Spartak" proved to be stronger than Danish "Silkeborg" (3: 2, 2: 1) thanks to three goals of Tikhonov, but could not cope with “Hamburg” in the next round (0: 2, 2: 2).

And Lokomotiv capitulated to Benfica in the 1/8 finals of KK - 0: 1, 2: 3.

2002/03 season (3,625)

Spartak (the first group stage of the Champions League), Lokomotiv (the second group stage of the Champions League), CSKA, Zenit (1/64 of the UEFA Cup)

The beginning of the 2000s turned out to be extremely unfortunate for Russian clubs.

The longstanding hegemon "Spartak" was gradually losing ground, while CSKA and Zenit had not yet gained real strength.

As a result, the country fell lower and lower in the UEFA coefficient table until it dropped into the third decade.

The 2002/03 season turned out to be extremely weak, during which Spartak, CSKA and Zenit scored only three victories in total (all in the assets of the Petersburgers).

It is difficult to imagine how deep the fall could have been if not for Lokomotiv, which reached the peak in those years.

Moreover, in the reporting season, Russia was represented in the Champions League group stage by two teams.

If "Spartak" got there directly as the champion of the country, then the railroad workers made their way through the qualification.

As a result, they managed to take second place in the quartet with Barcelona, ​​Club Brugge and Galatasaray.

Moreover, in the first four rounds, the red-greens scored only one point, but in the last two matches they beat Galatasaray (2: 1) and Brugge (2: 0), thanks to which they rose to the second line.

In the next group stage, Semin's team scored only a point in the company with such giants as Real, Milan and Borussia Dortmund, but in almost all meetings they looked decent.

The railwaymen took away points from Madrid at the exit, and James Obiora and Bennet Mnguni distinguished themselves.  

"Spartak" failed to score a single point.

In six games against Basel, Liverpool and Valencia, the red and white conceded 18 goals, scoring once.

However, the team initially found it difficult to count on something, because on the eve of the start in the tournament Romantsev, for various reasons, was left without a number of strong performers.

Dmitry Parfyonov and Yegor Titov were injured, and Dmitry Sychev left the club with a scandal.

In the UEFA Cup, Russia also featured two teams - Zenit and CSKA.

The Petersburgers, who had only played their second season in European competition, scored 13 unanswered goals against Andorra's Encamp in the qualifying round.

But in the next stage, both teams were defeated.

The blue-white-blue, having lost to the Swiss Grasshopper in the first match (1: 3), scored two necessary goals at home by the 20th minute, which led them to the next round.

The double was designed by 19-year-old Alexander Kerzhakov.

However, on the 89th goal, Mate Baturina helped the guests to go further.

CSKA nearly knocked out one of the strongest teams in Italy, Parma.

In Moscow, the army team played with a venerable opponent in a draw - 1: 1, and away sensationally took the lead thanks to a double by Sergei Semak - 2: 1.

But in the second half, the young Romanian forward Adrian Mutu put an end to the prospects of the red and blue.

In the 66th minute, he equalized the score, and in the 90th brought the hosts the necessary victory.

  • Football Champions League match between Lokomotiv (Moscow) and Real (Madrid)

  • RIA News

  • © Vladimir Fedorenko

1994/95 season (2,800)

Spartak (Champions League group stage), CSKA (KK 1/16 finals), Rotor (KUEFA 1/32 finals), Dynamo, Tekstilshchik (UEFA Cup 1/16 finals).

Only twice in history have Russian clubs scored less than three points at the end of the season in the UEFA coefficient table.

For the first time, this happened in the 1994/95 UEFA competition.

If in previous cases at least one of the teams performed with dignity, then in 1994 all failed.

Spartak was left without Valery Karpin, Vladimir Beschastnykh and Igor Ledyakhov in the summer.

In addition, the red and white fell into the same Champions League group with the champions of France and Germany - PSG and Bayern, which were difficult to compete with.

Even two draws with Munich (1: 1, 2: 2) and a home victory with a minimum score over Dynamo Kiev did not help to rise above the third place.

Other Russian clubs added even fewer points to the UEFA coefficient table.

Nantes, one of the strongest teams in France of those years, alternately knocked out two provincial debutants of European cups from the struggle: Rotor (2: 3, 3: 0) in the 1/32 finals and Tekstilshchik (2: 0, 2: 1 ) - in 1/16.

It is curious that in the spring of 1996, Nantes will upset yet another domestic team: it will be stronger than Spartak in the Champions League quarterfinals.

The fans were not pleased with the Moscow Dynamo and CSKA.

The blue and white with great difficulty passed the Belgian Seren (4: 3, 0: 1) thanks to the greater number of goals scored on the road, but in the 1/16 finals they lost to Real Madrid.

And at home, the capital's team achieved an effective draw - 2: 2, but in Madrid missed four unanswered goals.

In turn, the army team in the first round of KK in the penalty shootout lost to Ferencvaros (2: 1, 1: 2).

  • Rotor before the match against French Nantes in 1/32 of the UEFA Cup, 1994

  • © www.rotor-volgograd.ru

Season 2001/2002 (2,333)

Spartak (Champions League group stage), Lokomotiv (1/16 UEFA Cup finals), Torpedo, Anji, Chornomorets (1/64 UEFA Cup finals), Dynamo (1/32 Cup finals) UEFA).

The most unfortunate in history for Russia was the 2001/02 European Cup season, during which the country scored just over two points and dropped from a high sixth place in the UEFA coefficient table to tenth.

And again, like a year later, Lokomotiv almost single-handedly defended the country's honor.

Then, for the first time in history, the railwaymen made their way to the Champions League group stage.

Moreover, the confrontation with "Tyrol" was not without a scandal.

Initially, Muscovites proved to be stronger than their opponents both at home (3: 1) and away (1: 0).

But the Austrian club filed a protest against the return match due to the fact that the referee Mario van der Ende mistakenly showed a yellow card to Vladimir Maminov instead of Ruslan Pimenov, who already had a yellow card.

UEFA granted the petition and ordered a replay.

In it, the players of "Tyrol" did everything possible to break into the group stage, but only once managed to break through Ruslan Nigmatullin, who played a real "match of life".

In their quartet, Semin's wards scored only one point in the first four matches, but loudly slammed the door, defeating Anderlecht (5: 1) in the last meetings and sensationally beating Real Madrid at home - 2: 0.

The finish in third place allowed Loko to qualify for the 1/16 finals of the UEFA Cup, but there the railroad workers unexpectedly lost to Hapoel from Tel Aviv (1: 2, 0: 1).

Spartak performed much worse in the Champions League.

By the way, for the first time Russia was represented at the group stage of the main European Cup by two teams.

But losing their former power, the red and white took the last line in the quartet with Bayern, Sparta and Feyenoord.

Romantsev's team scored only two points, having played a draw at home with Rotterdam and Prague residents with the same score - 2: 2.

In the 1/64 finals of KUEFA, Russia was represented by four teams and two debutants from the provinces.

This time they were Anji and Chornomorets.

And both took off at the first stage.

It is curious that the fate of the confrontation with Glasgow Rangers was decided in only one match.

The Scottish team refused to go to Makhachkalka due to the unstable situation in the Caucasus, and UEFA met it halfway.

It was decided to hold one meeting at a neutral stadium in Warsaw.

In it, "Anji" was defeated with a minimum score.

In turn, Valencia left no chances for Chornomorets, who scored six unanswered goals against the team from Novorossiysk.

Glasgow Rangers, like Nantes in 1994, knocked out two Russian teams at once.

In the 1/32 finals of the UEFA Cup, the Scottish team confidently beat Dynamo (3: 1, 4: 1).

Finally, Torpedo also finished their performance in the tournament in the first round, losing to the English Ipswich (1: 1, 1: 2).   

  • Ruslan Nigmatullin in a match with Tyrol

  • © press service of FC Lokomotiv