This fall we will see CSKA in the Champions League 2018-2019. The Moscow team will participate in the most prestigious European club championship for the 6th time in a row. Who will be the rival of the red and blue? What is the schedule of games with the participation of the army club? And do Viktor Goncharenko's charges have a chance to make it to the next stage of the tournament?
According to the results of the draw, the red-blues got into group G. The rivals of the capital's PFC were the Spanish "Real", the Czech "Victoria" and the Italian "Roma". The first meeting of the Muscovites will be held on September 19 against Victoria, and the last - on December 12 against Real. This is how it looks full calendar matches of the capital club:
To reach the next stage of the Champions League, the army team must take 1st - 2nd place in their quartet. If they succeed, they will continue to play in the 1/8 playoffs of the tournament. The first round of elimination games will take place in February - March 2019.
Opponents of football CSKA in the Champions League 2018/19
Let's analyze in detail the future football confrontations in the quartet G with the participation of red and blue.
CSKA Moscow - Roma 2018
With one of the leaders Italian football Evgeny Giner's club will clash on October 23 and November 7.
The football team from Moscow had to play with the Romans four times. Two fights ended in triumph of the Italians, one ended in a draw and only once did the army team gain the upper hand. Last time the draw brought the two clubs together in the 2014/15 Champions League season. The Russians lost 1: 5 in Rome. And in Moscow they were content with only a 1: 1 draw.
CSKA - Victoria 2018
CSKA already know Victoria from Pilsen. The capital's footballers played with the Czechs in group stage Champions League 2013/14. The home match ended with the victory of the Russians 3: 2. But in the return match the players of "Victoria" were stronger 1: 2.
CSKA Moscow - Real Madrid 2018
CSKA's toughest rival in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage calendar. The Russian FC will meet the leader of Group G on October 2 at home and on December 12 on the road.
The Red-Blues have already met the “creamy” ones twice in the 1/8 Champions League 2011/12. The home game ended in a 1: 1 draw. But the away match ended with a convincing victory of Madrid 1: 4.
CSKA chances to qualify from the group
Let's be honest, the chances are slim. The army team suffered too much personnel losses in the offseason. The club has lost a number of base players. The midfield suffered especially. It takes a long time to find replacements for Natcho, Golovin and Wernbloom.
However, the chances of getting into the 1/8 are small, but they are. To advance to the next round of the Champions League, footballers from Moscow must fulfill several conditions.
First, in mandatory need to type maximum amount points in games with "Victoria". The team from the city of Pilsen is the weakest member of Quartet G. It will be daunting to take away points from other opponents.
Secondly, you need to score points against Roma. The Romans are the main competitors for second place in Group G. Ideally, Muscovites should win at home and not lose away. In this case, a trip to the spring stage of the Champions League will be guaranteed for the red-blue!
The task is difficult. The team of Viktor Goncharenko will have to make serious efforts and even extra efforts to make it to the playoffs of the 2018/19 Champions League. But the six-time champions of Russia taught us to win in the most difficult situations. Therefore, there is hope that they will surprise you this time too!
The drawing ceremony for the main club tournament in Europe took place in Monaco. On it Cristiano Ronaldo awarded for best goal season, and Modric awarded the title best football player... But the main thing is that UEFA has decided on the composition of all the Champions League groups. We, of course, are primarily interested in rivals Loko and CSKA. Let's start with the champion.
Lokomotiv Moscow - Group D
Calendar
1st round: Galatasaray - Lokomotiv (September 18);
2nd round: Lokomotiv - Porto (October 2);
3rd round: Schalke 04 - Lokomotiv (October 23);
4th round: Lokomotiv - Schalke (November 6);
5th round: Lokomotiv - Galatasaray (November 27);
6th round: Porto - Lokomotiv (December 11).
Porto (Portugal)
Place last season: Champions
Place in the UEFA rankings: 11
Portuguese football is not as strong as it was just a few years ago. This is especially noticeable in European competitions. Portugal is far behind Russia in the UEFA rankings and has already lost several clubs this season. Nevertheless, Porto are the champion of this country. Last year, the lead over the second Benfica was seven points, and the Champions League ended with a crushing loss to Liverpool in the round of 16.
Coaches the club Sergio Conceizau, who previously worked with second-tier clubs. The midfielder stands out more than the rest Yasin Braimi and forward Vincent Aboubacar... They are Porto's most productive footballers so far.
The team started the season with a Super Bowl victory and two start wins, but last game slowed down and lost at home to Vitoria. But it is too early to draw conclusions about its form.
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Place last season: 2
Ilya Herkus even before the draw, he wanted the vice-champions of Germany to be included in the Lokomotiv group. Perhaps the fact is that in the current Loko there are several former representatives of Schalke at once - sports director Stoffelshaus, forward Farfan and newbie Hövedes.
A year earlier, Schalke screwed up and took 10th place. For the same reason, the club was left without European cups last season. Concentrated on the Bundesliga and quietly took second place in it after Bayern.
There are no superstars in the club (well, except for such an Embolo), and the coach is Domenico Tedesco... As in the case of the Porto coach, he is working with a strong club for the first time.
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Place last season: Champions
Fans of Loko must have experienced nostalgic feelings for the 2000s Champions League. Then they also watched the games with this opponent. In 2002, they both exchanged away victories.
Galatasaray is another champion in this group. True, in Europe, the last season turned out to be a real shame for the Turks. The defeat of the Swedish Östersund did not allow them to participate even in the group stage of the Europa League.
We are accustomed to the fact that in Turkey there are consistently many out-playing superstars, but this concerns Galatasaray to a lesser extent. From famous footballers except that Nagotomo and Feguli... A plus Muslera- the same goalkeeper of the Uruguayan national team who made an offensive mistake in the playoffs. But the club has an experienced coach. Fatih Terim surely determined to restore the club's reputation in Europe.
CSKA Moscow - Group G
Calendar
1st round: Victoria (Pilsen) - CSKA (September 19);
2nd round: CSKA - Real (October 2);
3rd round: Roma - CSKA (October 23);
4th round: CSKA - Roma (November 7);
5th round: CSKA - Victoria (Pilsen) (November 27);
6th round: Real Madrid - CSKA (December 12).
Real (Spain)
Place last season: 3
What can you say, CSKA were out of luck again. Real for last years won the Champions League several times and rightly tops the UEFA rankings. And it makes no sense to look at the La Liga table, in which the team became only the third.
However, one can hope that perestroika will drag on in Madrid. The coach has changed, Cristiano Ronaldo has left, and this will certainly play a role. At least the club didn't manage to win the European Super Cup.
Roma (Italy)
Place last season: 3
Another bronze medalist in their league who made a splash in Europe. It was Roma who made, perhaps, the main comeback of last season, knocking out Barça after a crushing defeat in the first game. The Romans reached the Champions League semi-finals: no one expected this.
In the offseason, the club lost Nainggolana, Alison and Strotman, but acquired N'Zonzi and Pastor... Expressive still remains the head coach Di Francesco, who recently became so psychotic during the game that he broke his arm.
It is too early to draw conclusions at the beginning of the season, but in the offseason, Roma played in International Cup champions. There, the results were ambiguous. Yes, we lost to Real Madrid and Spurs, but we beat Barça again.
Victoria (Czech Republic)
Place last season: Champions
The only champion of the group who will probably fight for only third place. It is very likely that with CSKA (although, who knows).
It is unlikely that you will be told at least something about the names of the players of this club. Is that the head coach - Pavel Vrba not so long ago he coached Anji. By the way about famous players: the pupils of the club are Nedved and Czech.
The Czechs were knocked out of the Champions League that season by Steaua, but they managed to perform well in the Europa League. The irony is that the same Steaua ended up in the Victoria group and finished only second in it. In the 1/16 finals Partizan was passed, and the team stopped only at Sporting - in the 1/8, and even then in extra time.
Results of the European Cup week.
Benfica (Lisbon, Portugal)
A few hours before the start of the draw in the text about the layouts "Benfica" was named the best option for CSKA. And so it happened - apart from Shakhtar, the Portuguese look like the weakest team from the first basket.
Last season, Benfica became the Portuguese champion for the fourth time in a row with a solid margin, six points ahead of Porto. In the previous Champions League, the team also ended up in a not strong group, advanced to the playoffs and were eliminated from Borussia Dortmund.
The last time Benfica played with Russian teams was in 2014 - then both times the Portuguese lost to Zenit. For three years, the team has not changed much: at the gate there is still one of the best goalkeepers in the history of the Brazilian national team Julio Cesar, the captain is a huge defender Luizao, and in the attack is the powerful Jonas. In general, a solid Brazilian diaspora. In addition, the "army team" should be wary of two Greeks - top scorer Benfica Mitroglou and the passer Samaris.
Since the year before last, the capital's club has been coached by 47-year-old Portuguese Rui Vitoria. When he was a footballer, he did not play anywhere above the third local division, but as a coach he won the Portuguese League Cup with Pacos de Ferreira and the Portuguese Cup with Vitoria.
Over the past 8 years CSKA have met Manchester United four times. The most memorable was Slutsky's first match at the club at Old Trafford, which ended 3: 3. "CSKA" were leading 3: 1 and missed the victory over the British on last minutes... And in 2015, CSKA met Van Gaal in Manchester and was able to win only one point in two matches.
There is not much left of the Dutchman's team in the current Manchester. Lukaku, Pogba, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Martial - these players will need to keep Vasina and co. In addition, a couple of hours before the draw, Ibrahimovic announced that he was returning to the club: “I have to finish what I started”. Apparently, Zlatan was hinting at winning the Premier League (and the Champions League).
José Mourinho was promoted to the Champions League by defeating Ajax in the LE final. The most memorable matches Portuguese coach against CSKA - with gold Inter in the 2009/10 Champions League quarterfinals. Then Osobenniy twice beat the “army men” 1: 0 - Milito and Sneijder scored - and won his next European title.
In the first two rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United have a 100% CS result - 4: 0 with West Ham and 4: 0 with Swansea. In England, Manchester United are called the main contender for the championship, so in Group A the British are definitely the main favorite.
Basel (Basel, Switzerland)
CSKA have already knocked out one Swiss team. Basel are the champion of Switzerland, but they do not play much better than the Young Boys. For the past 9 years, the team has won gold at home, but they have been unsuccessful in the Champions League. Last season, Basel got into the group of Arsenal, PSG and Ludogorets and with two points were eliminated from the tournament.
In Basel, the captain is an old friend of CSKA - ex-Spartak player Marek Sukhi. For the Czech, the former Premier League opponent will only be an additional motivation. Two more famous footballers in Russia: brother of Arsenal midfielder Granit Jaki Taulant and Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who scored a lot in Sporting.
Since this season, Basel new coach- young Swiss Rafael Vicki. By the age of 40, he managed to train with Felix Magath, bring up several generations in the youth teams and youth teams of Basel and lead the main team. Vicky is only a couple of months younger than Viktor Goncharenko - a rarity in the Champions League.
The size prize fund- almost 2 billion euros. The total value of the players is 13.74 billion euros. The final of this competition alone is watched by 200 million viewers. All this is the Champions League, the tournament in which Lokomotiv and CSKA start from Russia.
This is a tournament of life and death. When Spartak missed the Champions League group stage, they had to sell their leader Quincy Promes. And having lost half of the CSKA roster only by the opportunity to play in this tournament, he lured several stars to him. If our clubs make it to the playoffs in the Champions League, that means they will earn at least € 35 million each. Who intends to prevent them from doing this?
RIVALS OF LOCOMOTIVE
"Galatasaray"
Budget: € 100 million
Most Valuable Player: Badu Ndiaye, worth € 15 million
Cost of the whole train: 96.65 euros
The most mysterious rival. Its main star is the trainer Fatih Terim, nicknamed the Emperor. The main trump card is the stands, on which the slogan "Welcome to Hell" always hangs to the guests. But in terms of its financial capabilities, Galatasaray is at the level of the current Loko.
Schalke 04
Budget: 140 million euros
Most Valuable Player: Amin Harit, € 25m
The cost of the entire train: 256.4 million euros
The vice-champion of Germany, like all German clubs, knows how to count money. But last summer, Schalke lost several leaders at once, and the same Goretzka left for Bayern for free. There are no stars in Schalke's roster, and two of his former players play for Lokomotiv at once - Farfan and Hevedas.
Porto
Budget: 130 million euros
Most Valuable Player: Yasin Braimi, € 26m
The cost of the entire train: 241 million euros
Porto is a business club. It exists in order to buy inexpensive players, mainly from Brazil, to promote them and turn them over to the top teams in Europe for a lot of money. Thus, Porto has already earned 510 million euros over the past 8 years.
Opponents CSKA
"Real"
Budget: 690 million
Most Valuable Player: Graet Bale, € 90m
The cost of the whole composition: 968.3 ml. Euro
The giant of European football. No Russian club can compete with him in terms of financial indicators. But, having sold Cristiano Ronaldo, “Real” was very wrong: now tens of thousands fewer spectators are going to his matches.
"Roma"
Budget: 200 million euros
Most Valuable Player: Konstantinos Manolas, € 40m
The cost of the entire train: 369.2 million euros
Now italian clubs raise their head. The TV contract to show the championship matches has grown, and the grandees of Serie A can once again afford stars. And then Liverpool helped: they bought the goalkeeper Alisson from the Romans for a record EUR 62.5 million (Roma will receive another EUR 10 million as bonuses).
"Victoria" Plzen
Budget: € 30 million
Most Valuable Player: Patrick Groszowski, € 4m
The cost of the entire train: € 30.35 million
Our size! Champion of the Czech Republic is one of best teams Eastern Europe, but still the club is far from even the current CSKA. CSKA start the tournament with a match in Plzen, and if they win, there will be at least some chances to fight for the playoffs.
You won't find Cristiano Ronaldo on this list. At 33 years old and with a “price tag” of 100 million euros, he dropped to 13th place. But in football, the phrase “the most dear footballers"Does not mean the same as" most valuable. " Cristiano will prove it yet.
V Russian clubs Champions League most dear players cost several times less. Lokomotiv midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is estimated at 18 million euros. CSKA defender Mario Fernandez is $ 20m and is now the most expensive player in the Russian Premier League.
The strength of teams can be measured in different ways - by titles, rating, income, the number of fans ... Or it can be measured by the total cost of the players. And in this rating now the first place is occupied by "Barcelona". It will be interesting to compare this table with the sports results of the Champions League.
BY THE WAY
32 UEFA Champions League clubs to earn € 1.95bn
Initial payments - € 488 million
For participation in the group stage, each of the 32 clubs will be paid 15.25 million euros.
Fixed payments - 585 mln.
The bonus for each victory in the group stage will be 2.7 million, for a draw - 0.9 million.
Payoffs to playoff participants:
Advance to the 1/8 finals: $ 9.5 million each
Quarter-finals: $ 10.5 million each
Advance to 1/2 finals: $ 12 million each
Reaching the final: 15 million
The winner of the Champions League will receive an additional $ 4 million.
Participants in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup will receive an additional 3.5 million, and the winner will receive an additional 1 million.
This ranking takes into account the performances of clubs in the Champions League over the past 10 years. If the team makes its Champions League debut, they will be entitled to a little over € 1 million, and best club over the past 10 years will receive 35.5 million euros. At the moment, the best club is Real. And then there are Barcelona and Bayern. They will get the most.
Former president and coach of CSKA - about the historic victory of the army team over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
- What would you answer if, before the start of the Champions League, I asked you: “Do you believe in CSKA's victory over“ ”?
Of course, in this situation, everyone in my place would have bet on Real. But there was such a situation that in the second match many young players entered the field with Madrid, and they had a good first 30 minutes of the meeting. However, he survived and opened an account. After the goal, the constraint in the actions of the army team disappeared and they also began to play. Yes, the royal club had a territorial advantage, possession of the ball was also theirs. But the team was reliable on the defensive and attacked well.
- Is the sustained starting onslaught a turning point in the game?
No, so I became goal scored... After that, confidence appeared in CSKA's game. Before that, the army team looked constrained, they were more focused on defense than attack. The goal allowed to cast aside doubts and the team went ahead. Throughout the second half, the red and blue looked good. This is the second and historic victory over Real Madrid, which will be remembered by everyone. But it's a pity that CSKA didn't make it to the Europa League. In this case, the result would be perceived more positively.
- Who should be praised for this victory in the first place?
The whole team as a whole. The coach gives instructions - the players follow it. And together they are a team. Therefore, it is not necessary to praise someone separately.
The commentator for radio Marca said during the broadcast that Fedor is the most talented football player in Russia after Alexander. After the defeat of "Real" the army team will not have a release from those wishing to sign a striker?
Anything is possible, because Europe is also looking for young and talented players. Chalov is a clean striker, he has a chance - he scores. Fedor opens up beautifully, interacts well with partners, and also has other positive qualities.
Is Chalov really the most talented right now? Russian footballer acting in the RPL? There is a feeling that the commentator uttered this phrase for the sake of a catchphrase.
There are a lot of talented football players in Russia, but the question is how they will progress. For example, CSKA youth played well this year, but they need to add to be better. In any case, sooner or later, the opponent adjusts to the game. Teams study football players, find an "antidote" and need to constantly improve to prevent this from happening. Even Lionel and Cristiano do not stand still. Our players need to progress even more.
In turn, if we talk about CSKA, it is worth noting that the team does not always succeed in showing itself well. Yes, the matches with “Real” turned out to be of high quality, but the meetings with “” were not. By by and large it was better to take 6 points in games with the Czechs in order to reach the playoffs of the Europa League, but lose to Madrid.
- Will the experience of victories in "big" matches help young CSKA?
They need to forget that they did not qualify for the Europa League and focus on continuing the season. It is necessary to play well in the Russian championship in order to get into the Champions League and perform more successfully thanks to the experience gained. And I have no doubt that they will not make mistakes anymore if they come across a team like Victoria as an opponent.
- Departure from European competition - a plus for the army team in terms of the ability to focus only on the RPL?
No, this is sheer nonsense. In Europe, all teams play on several fronts, but only we constantly think about fatigue. You don't need to pay attention to it. It is necessary to go out on the field, play to overbear yourself. Because as soon as the thought that you are tired appears in your head, you immediately get tired (laughs).
- How did you take the fact that at the end of the match the stadium "Santiago Bernabeu" remained half empty?
Basically, this game didn't mean anything for Real. Even the footballers showed that they weren't doing their best. It is noticeable that, for example, he played carelessly. Madrid youth tried, but Karim and others ... They had no zeal. In addition, they were inferior to the army team in the fight. It was striking.
Can we say that the absence of Russian teams in the Champions League playoffs is a result that reflects the real level of our football?
I think yes. In principle, CSKA performed well, given the change of generations. But the most important thing is that the army youth gained experience of performing in. Such victories are worth a lot. Having beaten Real Madrid, the players have confidence.
Could the victory of CSKA be a signal and a kind of call for others Russian teams didn’t disdain in front of more eminent rivals?
Of course this is an example. But there were similar victories before. The same CSKA at one time beat Barcelona, and "" won "Real". But more importantly, another thing is to conduct the whole tournament in one piece. The army team has no stability. Yes, we beat royal club, but lost 5 points in the matches against Victoria. And the Czechs took and defeated Roma, which CSKA lost. But the Romans are also not easy to beat. In the meeting with Victoria, Goncharenko's team had to play reliably in defense, as in the meeting with Madrid. But somewhere here they missed.