The faces of champions: Safonov, Khaykin and Batrakov enter the European stage

The main stage of the Champions League of the 2026/27 season has already started. Among the 36 strongest European teams were those that will be especially interesting for the Russian audience to watch. Matvey Safonov will defend the trophy with PSG, Nikita Khaykin and Buda-Glimt will try to create a sensation again, and Alexey Batrakov will make his debut in the main European club tournament. Read more about what awaits teams with Russian players in the Champions League in the Izvestia article.

Matvey Safonov (PSG)

The third season of the Champions League for the Russian goalkeeper in Paris. And the second one is in the status of a foundation player. Matvey is gradually improving his statistics of matches played in the main club tournament in Europe — now this figure is 17. There is no doubt that the mark of 20 matches played will be overcome, but ideally we should count on the top thirty if PSG goes far.

And the fact that the Parisians will go far is not even discussed. The current winner of the trophy is by default included in the pool of the main favorites, along with Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City. By the way, PSG will have to fight the last two at the general stage.

In addition to them, the rivals of the Parisian team will be Villarreal, Roma, Aston Villa, Como and Galatasaray, whose ranks were joined last summer by ex-Lokomotiv midfielder Alexei Batrakov. This is the kind of "Russian derby" that awaits us in the Champions League.

But first, PSG will face Slovan from Bratislava. In the domestic championship, the reigning champion started the season confidently with four wins in a row. But the last two matches, on the eve of the meeting with PSG, turned into setbacks for Slovan — they lost to IFC Zemplin Michalovce (1:2) and Dunajska Streda (0:2). There is a high probability that the unsuccessful series will continue — PSG looks like a clear contender for a confident, possibly major victory, and Safonov personally for a "cracker".

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Nikita Khaykin ("Buda-Glimt")

Nikita Khaykin is the only Russian Champions League participant whose team has passed through the qualifying sieve.

The Norwegian championship does not provide a guaranteed place in the main round of the Champions League, even for the champion. And at the end of the 2025 season (the Norwegian Elite Series is played according to the spring-autumn system), Bud Glimt became only the second, although happiness was close - Viking took the gold, beating the silver medalist by only one point.

Khaykin has already played four league matches this season. Two each — with the Belgian Union and the Dutch Nijmegen. The statistics so far are as follows: six missed goals and one "cracker" in the return game against Nijmegen (3:0). But the Norwegians did not win the "Union" without difficulty — 3:3 in the first game and 3:2 in the second, and then — following the results of extra time.

And these were just the second-tier teams. And ahead is the formidable Bayern Munich, the semi—finalist of last season's Champions League, which was stopped only by PSG. It will be extremely difficult for Haikin against Harry Kane, Michael Olise and the company. But last season, Bud Glimt taught us to be sensational. What a series of five consecutive wins is worth. And over whom: Manchester City, Atletico, Inter (twice) and Sporting. However, they eventually flew away from the Portuguese — after a 3-0 home defeat, there was a 0-5 away defeat with extra time. So let's not write off Bud-Glimt ahead of time.

In addition to Bayern Munich, the Norwegians will play Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Lille, LASK, Lens, Atletico and Brugge at the general stage of the Champions League.

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Alexey Batrakov (Galatasaray)

This season of the Champions League is special for Alexey Batrakov. At least because it will be the debut of the 21-year-old midfielder, a graduate of Lokomotiv, not only in European competitions in general.

A lot is expected from Batrakov. He proved himself so well at Lokomotiv. And then there's the massive expense from Galatasaray — €25 million.

But at the same time, everyone understands perfectly well that Alexey needs to adapt. After all, the Turkish championship will now be stronger than the Russian one: different speeds, different resistance, and the class of players is banally higher. Batrakov's partners are Italian champions Victor Osimhen and Rafael Leau, English and German champion Leroy Sane, as well as Champions League winner Ilkay Gundogan. With such players, progress will be faster. The main thing is not to slow down.

Batrakov made his debut in the Turkish championship on August 29, coming on in the second half against Goztepe, and in the next round Alexey was already in the starting line-up for the game against Basaksehir. There have been no direct effective actions yet, but Batrakov has already managed to participate in many scoring attacks. Further — more.

It is possible that Galatasaray head coach Okan Byuryuk will give Batrakov time in the next Champions League match against Portuguese Sporting. It's unlikely from the first minute, but who knows. Batrakov is already admired in Turkey, and these sentiments can have a positive effect on the playing time of the Loko pupil.

In addition to Sporting and PSG, the Turkish team will face Barcelona, Lille, Stuttgart, Aston Villa, AEK Athens and Feyenoord at the general stage of the Champions League.