Moscow “Spartak” won the most difficult match of the third qualifying round of the Champions League against Czech “Slovan” (2: 1) and entered the group stage of the most prestigious European club tournament. The last time this happened in red and white back in 2002 under the head coach Romantsev. The goals of Santos Mozart and Roman Pavlyuchenko allowed Spartak, albeit with great difficulty, to prove that this team is ready for a new test by the Champions League.
At the match, which promised to decide: to be or not to be Spartak in the League, at best, half of Luzhniki gathered. It was a rainy day. And yet strange: the fans of “Spartacus” and in sub-zero temperatures, it happened, could boast a much more impressive attendance. At games, for example, with CSKA.
As the head coach of Muscovites Vladimir Fedotov said the day before, Martin Yiranek and Vladimir Bystrov recovered from injuries and took to the field from the very first minutes. In these very first minutes of Jiranek, compatriots from Slovan practically did not bother. Protection of their own gates - that was what interested the Czechs above all.
Who knows, perhaps in this vein - with the expectation of a successful counterattack - the Czechs were going to play the whole match. However, the quick goal of “Spartacus” made adjustments to this concept. Mozart scored with a long-range shot in the nine, which looked not only stunning, but - use the controversial term for football - rightly. It was Mozart who was the best player on the field in the first half of the match. In the position of a defensive midfielder, he with equal success and an opponent kept a decent distance from his goal, and helped to build.
After a goal conceded, the Czechs had to switch to the game scheme with three defenders (before that, five were constantly on duty at their gates) and try to push through the Spartak defense. The hosts were ready for this: Slovan’s attempts to establish a positional attack were thwarted by the Spartak center Stranzl - Jiranek with ease, if not dandy.
The Czechs began to beat from afar, but at first they didn’t succeed either: the field in Luzhniki was artificial, the ball rebound was not typical. Try out of habit get hit right! Nevertheless, with each new attempt - and there were many of them among the guests - the rivals became more and more accurate. However, the course of the match, it seemed, “Spartacus” is in full control. And when the captain of Slovan Tomas Zapotochny left the field for two yellow cards, only a complete pessimist could have suggested that Muscovites would not be in the Champions League.
And what? At the 73rd minute, the hosts violated the rules in their own penalty area, the Spanish referee Cantalejo pointed to the 11-meter mark and Godour equalized. Out of the blue, Spartak, who played in the minority rival, almost lost the most important match in the last four years.
However, the shock did not last long. Seven minutes after a goal conceded, giving Slovan an advantage in the sum of two meetings, the hosts came forward again. Kovalchuk hit from a distance, and the clumsy flying ball managed to correct Roman Pavlyuchenko at the goal.
Shortly before the final whistle, the Czechs, who threw all their forces into the attack, could even the score again. However, the disaster did not happen - the goalkeeper Kowalewski helped out after hitting Posphera point blank.
Prizes did not help Czechs
To increase the motivation of the players before the match on Wednesday, there were special bonuses issued by the leadership of both clubs. In this sense, the Czechs surpassed the Russians, and significantly. So, the general director of Spartak Sergey Shavlo in the event of entering the group stage of the Champions League promised to pay 15 thousand dollars each. Slovan's financial incentives were incomparably higher: guests could earn 2 million kroons (about 90 thousand dollars). So judge who got into the League was more important ...
Chermen Dzgoev