"We didn't lose the championship, but Krasnodar won it."

For the first time in seven years, Zenit St. Petersburg players were left without the gold of the Russian Football Championship. Last weekend, following the results of the last 30th round, they were only one point behind Krasnodar. Thus, for the first time during the time of the blue-white-blue head coach Sergei Semak, the club lost its leadership in the RPL. The 49-year-old specialist has been working in this position since the summer of 2018 and led Zenit to six championships in a row.

In an interview with Izvestia, Semak appreciated the team's performance last season, commented on the loss of the championship on the 100th anniversary of the club's founding and explained why, immediately after the end of the last round of the championship, he congratulated Krasnodar head coach Murad Musayev on gold.

— Is it hard to celebrate the club's anniversary the day after losing the championship?

— Of course, there are worries about failure. But this is a sport. It's impossible to win all the time. So defeats are part of our job. A series of victories or a series of championships won in a row cannot go on indefinitely — sooner or later it ends. We need to accept this and move on. We wanted to win the championship again, but now we need to draw the right conclusions from this failure and move on.

— Does the atmosphere at the celebration of the 100th anniversary make up for the bitterness of defeat?

— This anniversary is a great event. I would like to thank the club for organizing everything this way. We are all happy to be involved in the history of Zenit and celebrate such a significant date together with our fans and veterans of the team from different years. You can see for yourself how many spectators came to the stands of Gazprom Arena for the legends match dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the club (more than 50 thousand people attended the game. — Izvestia). We are all lucky to play and work at Zenit, with such fans, in such a beautiful city. And we will do everything to please them with new victories in the future.

— Was it mentally easy to congratulate Murad Musayev on the championship immediately after the end of the last round of the RPL?

— There was nothing difficult about it and there is no problem, that's why I called him to congratulate him. This is absolutely normal. Murad Olegovich and I are on good terms, we communicate. I had to congratulate him as the coach of the team we were competing against and which ended up being superior to us.

— Were there any hopes before the last round for a successful outcome of the championship race for Zenit? Were there any illusions that Dynamo could take away points from Krasnodar?

— I would not talk about hopes and illusions. But there were chances for that. Why not? For our part, we tried to do everything necessary in the match against Akhmat. And they did — they won a fairly convincing victory (3:0). But, unfortunately, Krasnodar did not misfire in the match with Dynamo and won (3:0). Unfortunately for us and to the delight of Krasnodar fans. And as a result, they ended up above us in the table.

— A year ago, after the hardest championship race, when Zenit finally won the sixth gold in a row, you knelt on the lawn after the final whistle. Would your emotions be the same now if your team took the first place in a similar fight this time?

— I think the emotions would not be exactly the same. After all, the denouements in the championship race involving two and three teams are not the same thing. They are different. Last season, all three teams had the opportunity to become champions — us, Dynamo and Krasnodar. It was additionally motivating. This year, we approached the last round in a slightly different situation. But this is football — it's impossible to predict anything here. This season, our team scored 66 points — for the first time in more than 20 years, for the first time since 2002, a team with so many points did not become a champion (smiles). So I think it wasn't us who lost the championship, but Krasnodar won it.

— And why did this happen? Have the top clubs improved compared to last season? Or have the middle and lower classes become worse off?

— That's how it happened. It happens that this happens. The lower part of the table, of course, lost a lot of points and looked worse than usual, that's a fact. That's why the leaders scored more.

A celebration at Zenit: how St. Petersburg celebrated the centenary of the football club

What do you remember about the match of legends and the festive flotilla on the Neva River?

— Will it be different next season?

— It's hard to say. It just so happened that this year the teams that were eliminated from the RPL did not get enough points. I can't say that they were significantly worse or weaker than the others. It's just that for one reason or another they didn't manage to score the right number of points, but look at how Orenburg spent the spring part of the championship. A good team. It was not easy for any of her rivals. But it so happened that she took the penultimate place and flew out. And those teams that are now coming out of the first league are also difficult. Moreover, they have experience of playing in the Premier League - both Baltika and Torpedo, which came out directly, and Sochi and Ural, which can come through the joints. They will cause trouble for any opponent — there is no doubt about that.

— To what extent does the current Zenit need to update its squad?

— As usual, there are positions that require strengthening. But in any situation, you have to play to the maximum of your abilities. I think the team is doing it. Including last season, despite the fact that we didn't manage to win any trophies. But I have no complaints about dedication to any of the players. And we'll see what changes will happen next.

— How do you see your future?

— I have a valid contract with Zenit. And the club's management will evaluate the results of the season. We didn't manage to win the championship, but I think we played better than last season, even though we won gold back then. I repeat, we scored more points than a year ago, and it's been a long time since teams have lost the championship with so many points. So here we just need to congratulate Krasnodar and give it its due that it passed this championship with minimal losses and deservedly won gold. And our results, I repeat, will be evaluated by Zenit's management.

— You have been in charge of Zenit for seven years now, and all the time any trophy is perceived by the public as something obligatory. And any misfire, as this season, leads to harsh criticism of the team and the coaching staff. Are you tired of working in such an atmosphere?

— I love my job. And I'm doing what I can.