Play in English: does Rostov have any trump cards against CSKA
On June 1, the final match of the season in Russian football will take place: Rostov and CSKA will compete for the Russian Cup at Luzhniki Stadium. The chances of the Army team, who had a great time in the second part of the season, look much better. But Rostov's players, who are not under intense pressure, can also present a surprise. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Football player's wedding
The surprise of Rostov's passage to the superfinal of the Russian Cup is characterized by one juicy fact. On May 28, one of the Rostov players had a wedding, which was planned for the beginning of the vacation. But now the vacation has shifted slightly. The wedding took place, but it didn't work out at all. And there were no partners from Rostov at the celebration. The coaching staff didn't let anyone go.
However, this is actually not just a vital touch, but also an important nuance in terms of expectations from the game. Let's get this straight.
CSKA is the best spring team in all of Russian football. It's hard to argue about that. The army destroyed everyone and everywhere — they lost only the first match to Zenit in the final of the "RPL Way" of the Russian Cup, but they did not give up the overall confrontation. On the contrary, Nikolic's team took its toll with discipline, structure and perseverance. Otherwise, no defeats. By and large, no one in the RPL has adapted to the army diamond, although they have tried. For example, Dejan Stankovich took Barko out from under the action of the diamond, and Mikhail Galaktionov moved Godyaev to the flank in order to more effectively defend the semi-flanks.
But even the army still had problems in this segment. The first significant story happened in the game against Khimki, where Khimki defended the penalty area like medieval knights of the last surviving fortress. And they gave up only in the 93rd minute. There was a meeting with Akhmat, in which CSKA survived until the last seconds, although they scored in the ninth minute.
The main problems
The main problems happened in two games closer to the end of the championship. The first was the match with Krylia, where the Samaritans almost crushed CSKA in a counterattack. Although why a little? If Amar Rakhmanovich had hit the ball, CSKA would have lost for sure. Then it seemed that Nikolic's team had run out of batteries, which Igor Osinkin's guys took advantage of. It's even too easy.
The second problem is the meeting with Lokomotiv. After Vorobyov's double in the first half, it became clear that for some reason the red and blue did not tune in. By and large, they forgot to go to the game. But in this match, everything could have ended with a missed bronze. Well, and the first spring defeat. But then the army turned on and pulled the game.
What does this indicate? CSKA operates due to its perfect physical fitness, clear structure and concentration. As soon as one of these things - like a key on an old keyboard — sticks, problems begin. And the main one is the loss of concentration. After all, how, for example, did the Krylia comeback begin? From an unnecessary penalty for Roshi's foul on Shitov. In an almost safe situation, the Brazilian brought 11th. Obviously, in an ideal world, a composed Willian would not have allowed this. But after scoring the goal, the whole of CSKA calmed down, considering that the Samaritans had already given up, and almost missed two. I was lucky to miss one.
The same thing happened in the meeting with Loko, when it was not possible to gather after the victory over Krasnodar. Plus, the CSKA party on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the victory in the UEFA Cup did not pass by. As a result, there was a huge failure in the opening 45 minutes, when the Army men disappeared onto the field.
An unexpected exit to the finals
Rostov is a team that ended up in the finals with great luck. The team that lost captain Danil Glebov and head coach Valery Karpin during the season. After all, a team that has been riding trains for two and a half seasons. Rostov is hardly a powerful irritant for CSKA. Yes, there is motivation to raise the cup over your head, but what else?
This is exactly the chance of the Rostov team: to catch the relaxation of CSKA and counterattack powerfully. There is no doubt that Nikolic's players will try to dominate.
Rostov is a difficult opponent for CSKA in the season. In the first round, the Rostov team won in Moscow, and in the second round they drew at the Rostov Arena. There are two other teams in the games with which the Army team scored only one point in the framework of the completed RPL, Zenit and Loko. But here's an important note: both games took place before Nikolic's tactical reform. Therefore, by and large, Rostov's opponent has changed a lot, but the nuance is interesting.
The most important thing is that Donetsk is an unpredictable team. There is a core of hot guys gathered there: Komlichenko, Mokhebbi, Golenkov, Shchetinin, Melekhin and Bayramyan. Each of them is highly dependent on emotions. If they flow the wrong way, you can see the elimination in the first half (as in the home match against Spartak in the RPL), which broke the game. If it's the right one, there will be fierce resistance and even a victory for Rostov.
And most importantly, no one expected the Southerners in this final, and now nothing is putting pressure on them and the interim coach, Alba, who may be working the last game. If they win, fine, no, it was really difficult and the final can be called a success.
Therefore, Rostov can take the cup. In England, Crystal Palace did well. And CSKA is not 11 robots, but 10 people, and Matvey Kislyak, who is also not a robot, but there is definitely something mechanical and fundamental about him.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
