The current European Cup season passes without the participation of Russian teams.
But the country is adequately represented in the international arena by the ex-coach of the national team, Stanislav Cherchesov.
In the spring, he scored a “golden double” with Ferencváros in Hungary, and in the autumn he began to make history with him at the continental level.
The Green Eagles had a successful start in the Champions League, but in the third qualifying round, on aggregate, they unexpectedly lost to Qarabag, which forced them to make their way to the Europa League group stage.
But there is a blessing in disguise, because there they made a splash.
Thanks to a draw with Monaco, a round before the end of the stage, the Budapesters not only guaranteed themselves the continuation of the struggle, but also the first line in the quartet, which automatically takes them to the 1/8 finals.
This is the first time in the last 47 years that Ferencváros managed to break into the European Cup spring (in 1975 they reached the final of the Cup Winners' Cup, in which they lost to Dynamo Kyiv).
Success is especially valuable given the fact that they were in the "death group".
In the company with the current champions of Serbia (Crvena Zvezda) and Turkey (Trabzonspor), as well as one of the strongest teams in France (Monaco), Frodi looked like an outsider.
And in terms of the cost of the trains, he was seriously inferior to his competitors.
The roster of the Hungarian team Transfermarkt estimates approximately €40.1 million. For comparison, Monaco - €347.6 million, Trabzonspor - €145.7 million, and Red Star Stars - €56.1 million. However, Cherchesov urged not to pay attention to the numbers.
“Money doesn't play football.
You can earn them by performing well.
Today we met with a very strong opponent.
And the secret of success is that the whole team was a single entity.
Do we now belong to the European elite?
I don't think.
We have our own history…”, the specialist explained after his wards managed to take points from the Monegasques at home.
A round before the end of the group stage, Cherchesov's wards scored ten points and became inaccessible to their rivals.
And this is a significant step forward compared to last year, when the team was content with one victory with five defeats.
True, then Bayer, Betis and Celtic came across to the Budapesters.
At the same time, the Russian specialist is not going to stop there.
After defeating the French team in September, he announced his desire to reach the final of the tournament, which will take place just in Budapest.
Remembering the success of the Russian team at the 2018 World Cup, there is no doubt: the coach believes in solving a difficult task.
“We move from game to game.
Of course, we know that the final will take place at home.
In any case, I will visit him.
If it turns out not to be a spectator, it will be cooler, ”the Championship quotes the words of the mentor.
In addition to ambition, Ferencváros, like other teams of the coach, has character.
Budapesters are fighting until the last minute, even if the events are not in their favor.
For example, they played almost the entire match of the first round with Trabzonspor in the minority after the removal of Eldar Civic, but they prevailed - 3:2.
Then, on the road, they managed to put the squeeze on Monaco thanks to a goal by Balint Vechey in the end.
The return confrontation with the Monegasques was also indicative in this respect.
In the first half, the hosts did absolutely nothing, and they could concede much more than one ball.
But in the second one they managed to seize the initiative and in the 82nd minute snatched the necessary draw.
The fate of the confrontation with a shot into the near corner was decided by Christoffer Zakariassen.
Specialist replacements also worked.
Tokmak Nguyen, who entered the field, scored an assist.
At the same time, in the European Cup, the Hungarian team managed with almost no downturns and scored maximum points.
The only failure came in the away match with Red Star - 1:4.
Then the guests missed four unanswered goals after an hour of the meeting, and the mentor even accused the players of lack of will.
But a week later, the exact blows of Zakariassen and Sami Mmae helped to take revenge from the opponent at home - 2:1.
By the way, at the native Groupama Arena, Ferencvaros took seven points out of nine possible.
And the defeat in Serbia had objective reasons.
Firstly, Fradi has an extremely busy calendar in autumn.
For 53 days, they played 13 matches in all tournaments (an average of one meeting in four days).
At the same time, we must not forget that many also play for their national teams and took to the field more often.
It is no coincidence that the hegemon faced difficulties precisely after the September international pause.
“Before the away match, 12 people left for the national team.
When the guys meet two or three days before the game, they are all in a different state.
The team approached the match unbalanced.
It seems that the people are the same, they look the same, but the inner content is different.
This is not an excuse, but a statement of fact, ”Cherchesov complained.
In addition, some returned from the location of the national teams with injuries.
The coach also spoke about this after a major defeat in Belgrade.
According to the specialist, he could not count on five leaders, and had only four people in defense.
Personnel problems naturally led to a negative result.
In particular, a "hole" was formed on the left flank of the defense.
Said Civic first served a disqualification, and then out of action due to injury.
As a result, his position was forced to be closed by Lorant Paska, who made his debut in the elite Hungarian division only this year.
If you do not take into account the home victory over Red Star and a draw with Monaco in the LE, October as a whole was not very successful.
In the OTP Bank League, the football players of Cherchesov managed to lose not only to Kecskemet, who returned to the elite, but also to the outsider Mezokovesd.
And in the 1/16 finals of the Cup of the country, they sensationally lost in extra time to the team of the third strongest division, Ivanche.
But despite the need to break into several fronts, the hegemon holds the mark both in the LE and in the national championship.
After 12 rounds, he is leading with 24 points, one ahead of Kecskemét.
However, compared to the closest pursuers, the current champion has two games in hand.
At the same time, we can say that Cherchesov is squeezing the maximum out of the squad, because the club conducted a modest transfer campaign in the summer.
Four main performers left Hungary at once: Alexander Zubkov, Miha Blazic, Marko Marin and Fortune Bassey.
Having lost them, the Budapesters pointwise strengthened their problematic positions, spending only €3.5 million.
The specialist immediately built two newcomers into the squad.
Noted in the Champions League with Sheriff, the right winger Adama Traore played 23 matches in all tournaments and scored 14 goals.
And the young Dutch defender Mats Knuster is now practically indispensable in the center of defense.
Gradually adapting to the new country and the attacking midfielder Amer Goyak, bought from Dinamo Zagreb.