"Spartak won due to the fact that the team came out united"

Rostov's players sensationally reached the Superfinal of the Russian Cup. This week they beat Spartak Moscow 2-1 in the final of the Path of the Regions. And now, for the third time in history, they will compete in the decisive match of the tournament. They previously managed to win this trophy in 2014. The current success is also notable for the fact that at the end of February, the club lost two key people — head coach Valery Karpin, who decided to focus on working with the Russian national team, and midfielder Danil Glebov, who joined Dynamo Moscow.

In an interview with Izvestia, Rostov defender Andrei Langovich explained how the team defeated Spartak, how it was affected by the change in the game scheme made under current head coach Jonathan Alba, and also spoke about expectations from the upcoming match of the penultimate round of the Russian championship against Zenit.

— How did Spartak win?

— At the expense of desire. Due to the fact that the whole team was united. We all knew perfectly well that there would be a lot of pressure on us in the first half, especially in the first 20-30 minutes. The first goal against Spartak helped us a lot. And in the second half, we were even more able to impose a fight and keep the ball. It got easier because we were playing with the score. As a result, I think that, if we take the game as a whole, we coped with the task for the match.

— Ilya Vakhania said that under Alba, Rostov switched to a five-defender scheme in recent matches. Did it affect the game against Spartak?

— It didn't really work. We've played five defenders many times before. And everyone has been adapted to it for a long time. I can't say how much this hindered Spartak in a particular cup match. We need to ask the Spartacists themselves. But it is important for us that we have several schemes that we have long been accustomed to. This gives us variability, which allows us to win matches like against Spartak.

— Can we say that recently we have focused all our efforts on the Cup, taking into account the fact that in the championship Rostov settled tightly in the middle of the table, avoided relegation from the RPL and lost the chance of medals?

— In fact, we take every match as seriously as possible. We don't have a division into important and non-important tournaments. Yes, in the championship, the remaining matches have no tournament significance for us. But everyone has seen how we play every game to the last. We still want to move up in the table and finish the season well.

— Will you also fight in the upcoming game against Zenit? You can help Krasnodar win gold if you take the points away from Peter.

— In any case, we will play to win, regardless of the situation at the top of the table. We always want to win. In any match.

— Zenit played a Russian Cup match with CSKA a day earlier than you and has a day more time to prepare for the game with you, and Rostov will also have to travel to their home from Moscow by train for the next match. How will you get out of this situation?

— As always. It's not the first time we've come home like this and played against such opponents. We will prepare and do everything to beat Zenit.

— How can you beat CSKA in the Cup Superfinal?

— Due to the attitude and desire to fight from start to finish. If we play like we did in our best matches, we'll have a chance to win.