A protracted fall: why the failures of Russian teams in European competition should not be surprising

Over the course of a week, Russia has lost two representatives in the European competition at once, at the same time losing the chance to put two teams in the Champions League. Rubin and Sochi stumbled in the third qualifying round and failed to qualify for the group stage of the first ever Conference League, while the country's vice-champion Spartak lost twice to Benfica and went to the Europa League. However, the current results of domestic teams in the international arena should not be surprising, because in fact they are a logical continuation of the trends that have emerged during the past seasons.

Of course, the imminent departures of Rubin and Sochi from the League of Conferences could hardly have been considered expected. First of all, this concerns the Kazan team, who won the more than modest Polish Rakuv as their rivals. Until now, the club from Czestochowa has never won the Polish championship and has not represented the country in the European arena, and the cost of its roster, according to Transfermarkt, is € 14.9 million - € 3.1 million less than Khvichi Kvaratskhelia alone. The wards of Vladimir Fedotov were much less fortunate, and their opponent was Partizan - a team of relatively similar level, but with much more experience in performing at such tournaments. It is all the more remarkable that it was the fifth RPL team that looked preferable against the background of the enemy and lost only in the 11-meter series.

And this is despite the fact that Sochi made preparations for the first European Cup season rather ambiguously. A number of players from the starting line-up left the club, including Anton Zabolotny, Miha Mevlya, Ivan Miladinovich - each of them spent more than 2 thousand minutes on the field last season, and the forward became the second top scorer of the team with ten goals - more only in the asset of Christian Noboa (12). As a result, we had to completely update the defense, as well as rebuild the game in attack. And if performers of a similar level (Mateo Barach, Rodrigao) were at least invited to the defensive line, then not to the attacking one. 23-year-old Dmitry Vorobyov had no previous experience of playing in the RPL, so he can hardly be considered an equivalent replacement.

In turn, Rubin's transfer campaign can be considered successful only from a financial point of view. Now the difference between income and expenses is € 5.1 million, and not the most unpromising players were acquired - 22-year-old Sead Hakshabanovich has already managed to prove himself well in the national championship, and Montassar Talbi may eventually become an important element in defensive formations. But the losses are more than serious. Karl Starfelt went to Celtic, Denis Makarov to Dynamo. But in the last competitive year, both were the iron representatives of the base and largely determined the team's play in their lines. In addition, before the return match with Rakuv, Kazan lost their main forward Djordje Despotovich due to injury, as a result of which they had to rely on Mikhail Kostyukov and Ivan Ignatiev.

Of course, all this does not justify the lack of goals in both meetings with the Poles, as well as the fact that in the return leg Rubin relied too much on their leader. Kvaratskhelia too often took over the game and wanted to single-handedly get a ticket to the next round, ignoring his partners. But even with this in mind, things could well have turned out differently. The hit of Oliver Abilgore in the post, the inexplicable first yellow card, which eventually led to the removal of Ilya Samoshnikov, and the unsuccessful hit from the 11-meter mark by Khakshabanovich - it was a series of these unfortunate events that led to the departure of Slutsky's charges.

Against this background, the defeat of Spartak in the confrontation with Benfica looks quite logical. Rui Vitoria's charges met with a more skilled opponent with a noticeably better selection of performers and, as expected, lost. Yes, the total score of the two-legged series is depressing (0: 4), but even a couple of goals scored or conceded would not change the essence. In its current state, the Moscow team is not ready to play in the Champions League, which was confirmed in the third qualifying round. There are plenty of explanations for this: not the most stellar line-up, a change of coach, a change in tactical pattern and, as a result, the lack of a well-built game and a margin of safety. And although most players are difficult to reproach in the absence of desire, even the huge amount of work done could not compensate for the difference in class.

The Spartak case is a clear illustration of the place Russian teams occupy in the hierarchy of European football. It has long been clear that they are unable to compete with the giants, but in their current state it is extremely difficult for them to compete with the strongest representatives of the countries included in the top 10 of the Union of European Football Associations, and victories over representatives from more modest leagues have ceased to be a regularity. If once the RPL representatives were feared, remembering their triumphs in the UEFA Cup, victories over Barcelona, ​​Inter and Real, now there is no question of this.

In this regard, the results of the domestic teams in the last European Cup seasons are indicative, where they were inferior not only to Bayern, Borussia, Atlético, Juventus and Lazio. The same "Zenith" lost to "Brugge" with a total score of 1: 5, as well as "Benfica" (0: 3) in the final round of the group stage. Lokomotiv took only one point in two matches with Salzburg and lost to Porto in both matches (1: 3, 1: 4). CSKA suffered defeats from Wolfsberg and Ferencvaros, conceded five from Ludogorets. Krasnodar did not escape this fate in the confrontation with Basel.

All this only confirms the fact of a decrease in the overall level of domestic clubs, which perfectly reflects their place in the coefficient table. In just five years, they managed to lose two positions and move to the eighth line. And there is every reason to believe that the long descent will not end there. In the new European Cup season, Russia will be represented by only three clubs, each of which will find it extremely difficult to bring points to the common piggy bank. More difficult than usual will have "Zenith", which will be not in the first, but only in the third basket in the draw for the group stage of the Champions League. Yes, this does not exclude the development of events in which his competitors for a ticket to the playoffs will be Villarreal, Lille, Sporting or Sevilla, but the chance to get into the same quartet with the conditional Manchester City and Real "Noticeably higher than before.

The prospects for Lokomotiv and Spartak are also far from cloudless.

In the best case scenario, during the draw, the teams will be assigned to the second and third pots, respectively, which will allow them to secure meetings with slightly less strong opponents in the group stage.

However, there is an option in which each of the clubs will move one level lower.

But in the current Europa League, there is no particular choice.

Due to the change in the format, the number of participants decreased from 48 to 32, which increased the concentration of strong teams.

The same West Ham and Marseille can be in both the second and third pots, and the fourth is Midtjylland, who played in the Champions League last year.

In the first, Napoli, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen and Lazio are expected.

If the clubs fail to perform a miracle and bring at least seven points to the country's piggy bank, then in a year it risks losing its place in the top 10 of the UEFA coefficient ranking. Yes, this will not affect the number of representatives in European competitions, but it will be another confirmation of the crisis in domestic football. And there are no options for getting out of it yet.