"Everyone wanted to give a gift to Galitsky"

The Russian Football Championship ended on May 24 with the victory of Krasnodar. Having won at home against Dynamo Moscow in the last, 30th round, he retained the first place and won the gold of the national championship for the first time in history. For the first time since 2018, Zenit St. Petersburg, which fought Krasnodar until the last round, did not become the champion.

One of the most unexpected transfers before the season was the return of midfielder Yuri Gazinsky to the club. He played for Krasnodar for nine years in 2013-2022, was one of its leaders and led the team to its first successes — reaching the final of the 2014 Russian Cup, the first medals of the Russian championship (bronze in 2015), the first successes in European competitions, including reaching the group stage of the Champions League in 2020.

But in 2022, the already aged Gazinsky left the team and moved to the middle-class RPL Yekaterinburg Ural, where it seemed that he was gradually approaching the end of his career. But last summer, at the age of 35, Yuri unexpectedly returned to Krasnodar. He played very little in the victorious championship, mostly took the field in the Russian Cup, but provided the necessary depth of the squad and was among the winners of the gold medals of the championship.

In an interview with Izvestia, Gazinsky shared his emotions about winning the championship, compared it to his success with the Russian national team at the 2018 home World Cup, and did not rule out ending his football career after the current triumph.

— When you returned to Krasnodar a year ago, did you expect it to be such a success?

— Well, how did you expect? Of course, I wanted to win something. Still, I realized that this could probably be my last year. That's why I wanted to win the championship. I am glad that it was possible.

— How was it possible?

— Due to the great desire. Everyone wanted to achieve this championship. Moreover, it is the first for the club and for almost everyone in our team. We hadn't been able to do that for several seasons before. But now there was a chance, and I didn't want to miss it. Moreover, everyone at the club wanted to make a gift to the president of Krasnodar, Sergey Nikolaevich Galitsky.

Gold on horns: Krasnodar became the champion of Russia in football

The first title in the club's history

— When Krasnodar drew in the first three matches at the start of this championship, did you believe that you could take the gold?

"No one looks that far." Of course, you can and should always believe. Regardless of the start. Moreover, we still had 27 rounds to play. It was too early to draw any conclusions.

— Which is cooler: to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup with the Russian national team or to become the national champion with Krasnodar?

— This is the first championship for me. The quarterfinals of the World Cup were also the first. Moreover, there was a national team there, and a club here — it's wrong to compare them. In general, I repeat that I am very happy with this victory in the championship.

— What are your plans next? Will you be playing next season, or are you thinking of ending your football career on such a winning note?

— Let's see.