"We could have won against Spartak even without removing Zabolotny"

The football players of Kaliningrad "Baltika" continue to create sensations at the start of the Russian football championship. The team that returned to the RPL last season scored four points out of six in the first two rounds following trips to Moscow to the clubs competing for gold. Last week, Andrei Talalaev's team drew with Dynamo (1-1).

And on Saturday they defeated Spartak (3:0). In an interview with Izvestia, Baltika defender Sergey Varatynov shared his emotions from this success, told how the result was affected by the removal of red and white striker Anton Zabolotny in the 11th minute of the match, and also commented on his debut in the RPL at the age of 22 and the bankruptcy of his previous club Khimki.

— How much did the early removal of Zabolotny affect the result of the match? Could Baltika have won without him?

— About whether Spartak would have been beaten or not... I don't know how the game would have turned out. But it seems to me that even before the relegation, we played well, we pushed Spartak, it didn't seem to have any special moments. I think we could have won that way, but the removal of Zabolotny, of course, seriously affected the game.

— After the away draw with Dynamo, your management and teammates expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that they could not win. Can we say that you will always play like this to win, even in away matches against top clubs?

— Yes, in any game we try to play to the maximum, give our best and get our points, as many points as possible. Regarding the last game against Dynamo, I think that, in principle, we played well and created chances, but in the second half we didn't finish the game and, probably, a draw is a natural result.

— The last two matches against Dynamo and Spartak were your RPL debuts. How does this tournament differ from the first league?

— He probably has a higher level due to the speed of some movements, the players have more skill and the ball moves faster. In terms of wrestling, I would not say that it is stronger than in the first league. There's a lot more fighting going on in the first league, a lot is built on some kind of physics and endurance, but here in the RPL it's more about technique. In the Premier League, the opponents are more fun and it's harder to play one-on-one against them, because you throw yourself out and you can immediately knock over the attackers. It's harder in this regard. As it is, there is no particular difference yet.

— You are playing for Baltika for the second season and for the third under the leadership of Andrey Talalaev, with whom you started working the season before last at Khimki. What makes you constantly part of it?

— I think due to the fact that I fully follow his instructions, I give my best in training, he likes this. Probably because of this. I honestly don't know, I've never talked to him about it.

— A year ago, he took Khimki out of the first league in the RPL, but was soon fired from the club, and then you left the Moscow Region team. Is it possible to say that your debut in the Premier League could have taken place a year earlier if Talalaev had not been dismissed then?

— I don't know about that, but it's possible that yes. Of course, it was unpleasant for me to leave a club that had just joined the RPL, but this is football life. There are many such cases when people withdraw teams from the FNL, and then they are sent back to the FNL, and they are not needed at a higher level.

— Were you surprised when you heard about Khimki's financial problems this year?

— Gradually, some rumors appeared. And I understood that this could happen. But that everything will end with the closure of the club is unexpected, of course.

— Do Khimki still owe you any money?

— No, they paid me everything when I left last summer.

— Ravil Izmailov, CEO of Baltika, talks about the task of finishing in the top ten of the Russian Premier League this season. How would you rate the chances of this?

— I rate it positively. Basically, we're playing good football. I think we are playing a good game, and we have a good chance of solving this task.