Tournament motivation: what awaits Russian legionnaires in the European Cup playoffs

This week the first play-off matches in the three club tournaments begin: the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League. Russian soccer fans will pay special attention to PSG, Monaco and other teams that feature our players. Read more about what awaits Russian internationals in the first round of the European Cup playoffs in the Izvestia article.

Matvey Safonov (PSG, France)

In the final table of the general stage PSG failed to enter the "eight lucky ones", taking 15th place with 13 points. The reason for this is the loss of points in four consecutive matches: a draw with PSG, as well as three defeats - from Arsenal, Atletico and Bayern.

In the playoff round, Matvei Safonov's team got quite a passable opponent, and even familiar from the national championship - French Brest, which is currently in eighth place in Ligue 1. However, in the Champions League, both French teams are on equal footing. Brest and Parisians have four wins, one draw and three defeats. PSG is only superior to the opponent on goal difference (+5 vs. -1).

"Paris" - a good chance to reach the 1/8 finals, but further will be a serious test. In the potential rivals - either "Liverpool" or "Barcelona". These are the two best teams at the end of the overall stage: the British took first place with seven victories in eight matches, and the Spaniards - the second, having won six victories in eight meetings.

Whether we will see Safonov in action at the match against Brest is a question. PSG has already played two games against Brest in the championship, and in both cases the goal was defended by Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma. So far, Safonov has been trusted with the goal only in two Champions League matches: against Girona and Bayern. Now the opponent is easier, but the stage is important, where any mistake can be very expensive. So it is unlikely that Luis Enrique will please Russian soccer fans with Safonov's appearance in the starting lineup. But we will be glad to be wrong.

The matches PSG - Brest will be held on February 11 and 19.

Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco, France)

"Monaco" was also in the "club 13" at the end of the general stage of the Champions League, having scored as many points as PSG, Brest, Feyenoord and Benfica. With the latter Monegasques just and will have to fight for access to the 1/8 finals. The Portuguese Eagles finished a line higher than Monaco thanks to a better goal difference (+4 vs. 0).

Unlike Safonov in PSG, Golovin in Monaco is regularly on the pitch, including in Champions League matches, which is confirmed by the statistics: 508 minutes in eight matches and one efficient pass. In the match against Benfica, with whom the lot has already brought Monaco together in the fall stage. However, then the efforts of the Russian were not enough - the French lost on their field with a score of 2:3. The stronger the thirst for revenge. Only now it will be given two matches. An additional impetus will be the recent major defeat of Monaco from PSG (without Safonov) in the championship - 1:4.

Benfica, on the other hand, are approaching the clash with Monaco in top form - with three straight wins, including a 2-0 away success against Juventus in the Champions League. On paper, there is no clear favorite. The chances of both teams to reach the 1/8 finals are almost equal. Much will be shown by the first game. But what is already known for sure is that the winner will play in the next round either with Liverpool or Barcelona.

The matches "Monaco" - "Benfica" will be held on February 12 and 18.

Arsen Zakharyan ("Real Sociedad", Spain)

In the playoff round of the Europa League Spanish Real Sociedad got quite a passable opponent - Danish "Middtjylland". However, coming second in the Danish league (along with the leading Copenhagen), the opponent will certainly be able to cause trouble. For example, in their last game in the Europa League overall stage, Middtjylland put up a decent fight against Jose Mourinho's Turkish side Fenerbahce (2-2), coming away from defeat in the 86th minute. Real Sociedad finished 13th in the overall table of the second most important European Cup with 13 points. Middtjylland have 11 points and are in 20th place.

The question is whether we will see Russian midfielder Arsen Zakharyan on the field in at least one of these matches. Throughout the season, the 21-year-old ex-Dinamo player has been plagued by injuries, because of which he took the field for the first time in the season only on February 2 - for 12 minutes against Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga championship. And that was it. So it is unlikely that the European Cup playoffs are the place where you can gain form after a long absence of game practice. Although on the other hand, the opponent is not the most formidable. But further on, if Sociedad passes, one of the English giants - Tottenham or Manchester United - will be waiting for them. Perhaps by that time Zakharyan will return to his former condition, who knows.

The matches Real Sociedad vs. Middtjylland will be held on February 13 and 20.

Magomed Ozdoyev and Fedor Chalov (PAOK, Greece).

Two Russian footballers - forward Fedor Chalov and midfielder Magomed Ozdoyev will fight for access to the 1/8 finals in the Greek PAOK.

In the rivals - the leader of the championship of Romania, Steaua Bucharest. As for PAOK, it goes fourth in the championship of the Greek Super League.

In the fall stage of the Europa League, the Romanian team was slightly more successful than the Greek one: Steaua finished 11th (14 points), while PAOK finished 22nd (10 points).

There is a chance that at least the first face-to-face match between these teams will start without Russian players. The fact is that Chalov missed the last two matches in the championship (against AEK and OFI) because of a bruised muscle (it is assumed that the player is out of action until February 12-17), but Ozdoyev was left out of the application for the last match for very non-football reasons. Magomed was involved in a scuffle with OFI fans, which resulted in alarming reports in the local media about a possible criminal case against the Russian. One source claimed that all those involved in the brawl could face at least three months' imprisonment and a fine.

Later, PAOK's press office denied the information about a criminal case specifically against Ozdoyev, noting that the punishment applies to the team as a whole ("A court order was issued for a ban for one match").

In any case, at the moment nothing is preventing the first match of PAOK against Steaua Bucharest. Still, we are talking about a completely different tournament and a different organization responsible for holding it. So it is not excluded that on Thursday we will see Ozdoyev on the field. And maybe even together with Chalov.

The matches between PAOK and Steaua Bucharest will be held on February 13 and 20.

Yuri Lodygin (Panathinaikos, Greece).

Another Greek team with a Russian in the squad, Panathinaikos, played in the Conference League in the fall and finished the overall stage in 13th place with 10 points.

The Greek opponents are quite passable Icelandic Vikingur from Reykjavik, which took only 19th place in the table.

Panathinaikos, managed by former Spartak coach Rui Vitoria, now have 34-year-old ex-Zenit goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin. However, at the Athens club, the Russian is far from being the number one. This season Lodygin played four games in the Greek league, conceding four goals and scoring once, played the same four games in the cup, conceding the same four goals, and made two appearances in the Conference League, scoring dry runs against HIK Finland and Dinamo Minsk.

Little hope for the continuation of Lodygin soccer banquet his appearance in the last match of the championship - on February 9 against Aris. However, in this meeting Panathinaikos lost, and Lodygin missed two goals.

Panathinaikos vs Vikingur will be played on February 13 and 20.