The decision of the Russian team not to hold a summer camp is logical and justified. It’s time to do some self-deepening.
The refusal of the Cameroon national team to play at Luzhniki on June 15 led to the cancellation of the nearest training camp of our national team. It was not possible to find another opponent, and there was no point in gathering just for the sake of training on account of an already short summer vacation.
The only gaming alternative was the notorious Cup of the Football Associations of Central Asia, but you need to go to such a tournament only in order to win it confidently. Because we have already had occasion to butt heads on equal terms with our football partners from the southern republics, we clearly did not have enough naked class last autumn.
And in order to turn on the reserves of will and win in “plus forty” on plastic fields, you need to either kindle with sincere interest, or come to terms with the fact that such matches are now the main work for our players. And we have not yet arrived at either one or the other.
Between “need” and “want”
Matches with Asian teams would become a mandatory program if we nevertheless made the transition that was loudly talked about last year. Then, like it or not, ours would have to tune in to the teams of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as uncontested rivals, victories over which could bring us to the big international stage. For the World Cup first. But the time for these conversations has passed. The sharpness of our suspension has also blunted, when we wanted to play at all costs with any teams ready for this.
But to win, guided only by interest (we remember about our lack of class), it turns out, it’s hard for football professionals. Their real interest wakes up only when the opponents are familiar, understandable and recognized people and teams. It may seem paradoxical: you expect that it will be most interesting to play with those with whom you have not played yet.
But it’s really interesting to play against people you know well. Our (and any in the world) football players are well aware of the heroes who never leave the screens. They know Mbappe and Holland, and if they happen to play against such players, ours will be able to naturally turn on all the reserves of their skill without tension. But it’s difficult to turn on the “interesting” mode mechanically, by flipping a toggle switch. Probably, for this you need to love and appreciate football too much as a business, an occupation. To be devoted to him without monetary interest, to be his fanatic.
And the girls win 26:0
This is what the youth can do. That is why 17-year-old boys win with a score of 7:0 at the BRICS Cup in Brazil. By the way, there you also have to play in the heat on artificial fields. Therefore, 16-year-old boys score 14 goals against their peers from Kyrgyzstan, and 16-year-old girls complete their tournament with a total goal difference of 26:0. The fact that all this is happening in Volgograd at the so-called “UEFA Development Tournament” causes only a bewildered smile: that is, under the auspices of UEFA, with whose teams we are not allowed to play, we are developing our Asian friends? For what is the use of such “development” to us?
But it’s good that the boys and girls of the Russian national teams don’t think about such things. They still sincerely love and know how to play it with all their might. Whoever is put up against them is played against. And our adult team, in which many young people have made their debuts in recent months, clearly relied on their sincerity. Moreover, it cannot be said that it did not work at all: remember Pinyaev’s goal against Iraq.
How will we live with our suspended football in the future? It seems that the features of the near future are clearing up. At the level of international contacts, our first team should only have enthusiastic rivals. A person is weak, we cannot force ourselves, so let it be less often, but more interesting. As for the rest, we will have years of self-deepening. Years of invention of formats for internal tournaments, their improvement. Years of exercises in the “package” of our competitions, time to sculpt your heroes.
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
Moscow football club Spartak will not terminate the loan of the defender Nikita Chernov from Samara “Wings of the Soviets”. The sporting director told journalists Francesco Caigao.
Chernov is on loan at Krylya Sovetov until the end of the season.
“Nikita Chernov is not included in our plans, we have no intention of returning him from loan now. We have four central defenders. Srdjan Babic is recovering and will return in April,” Cahigao said.
Cahigao also spoke about the growth of the youth players: “It is important to understand that the club is not only focused on the main team, but also on the growth of its students. Tomorrow we leave for Dubai, they will go too.”
“We have a fast track, this is a gathering of young footballers. They use the entire infrastructure of the main team, it is very important to reduce the distance between the main team and the youth team. They should also take every opportunity that comes their way,” Cahigao added.
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
International Football Federation (FIFA) imposed a transfer ban on the Russian football club Rostov. This was reported by the press service FIFA.
The ban came into effect on January 13. The reasons for the sanctions are not specified.
Rostov is in 11th place in the Russian Premier League table (RPL), scoring 21 points in 18 games. The total transfer value of the club’s players, according to the Transfermarkt portal, is 38 million euros.
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
It has been almost 15 years since Josep Guardiola left Barcelona. Many believe that this specialist, who worked with the Blaugranas for four seasons, brought back to the team the playing principles that had previously worked and brought results under the great Johan Cruyff. Barcelona once again emphasized complete ball control, and Guardiola’s style even received a special name in the press: “tiki-taka”.
It is believed that in recent years “tiki-taka” has become increasingly obsolete in the tactical plans of mentors of most European clubs. Nowadays, it is fashionable in football to rely not on ball control but on quick transitions from defense to attack; This ends with the mandatory aggravation of the opponent’s goal (shots, crosses, earned fouls or corners).
But even now there are many teams whose tactical outlook is still associated with high levels of possession. Some have turned it into a sort of cult, while others just play their football this way without seeing other possibilities.
Now we will talk about the five teams that dominate the ball in the Champions League…
5. Borussia Dortmund – 56.4%
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Surprisingly, Germany’s best team in this component of play in the 2025/26 Champions League is Borussia Dortmund, not Bayern, who lead the ball in their home Bundesliga. Even more strangely, the yellow-blacks, who ranked only sixth in the same rankings in the home championship with a rate of 52.4%, lost against Freiburg (53%), Eintracht (53.5%), Stuttgart (57.1%), Bayer (58.8%) and Bayern (66.6%).
However, Bayern, which completely dominates Germany in the Champions League, is worse than Dortmund with an average match control rate of 55.6%. At the same time, the best German team in the Champions League in terms of points collected is Munich; Borussia Dortmund with 11 points against 15. The “yellow-blacks” are currently actively fighting for the top 8, but in the last two matches of the general stage they will have to play with Tottenham and Inter, where it will be extremely difficult to get maximum points. This is where we can mention the two points lost (2:2) in the home match against Bude-Glimt at the finish line. The Norwegians then gave the ball completely to the opponent (38% vs. 62%), losing the score twice (0:1, 1:2), but still managed to draw the draw (2:2).
4. Real Madrid – 56.5%
Possession of the ball has rarely been a cult at Real Madrid historically, but in order to operate from a position of strength the Blancos are often forced to play this way. This sometimes feels like a cruel joke on Madrid; such as the defeats against English Liverpool (0:1) and Manchester City (1:2) in the current Champions League. On both occasions it was Madrid who had more possession (62% against the Reds and 53% against the Citizens), but this did not do Xabi Alonso’s men any favors.
In the home championship, where Real is fighting Barcelona for the title, Madrid is not focused on taking control of the ball. But it may frankly surprise some to learn that the Blancos are losing out on possession average in La Liga not only to Barcelona, which is generally predictable, but also to Elche, the middle team of this season’s Spanish elite league. Barcelona has 67.3 percent, Elche has 59 percent and Real Madrid has 58.3 percent. These numbers certainly cannot bring titles, but Blancos fans may be annoyed to some extent that their players are inferior not only to their main rivals in Catalonia, but also to the brave “green stripes”. But as Real’s statistics in the Champions League show (Madrid are currently only seventh in the overall standings), today’s football is really such that possession can also be a problem, especially if your opponent is very skilled in counter-attacks.
3. Manchester City – 59.8%
Josep Guardiola’s current team, Manchester City, only finished third. City, who are the undisputed leaders of the last two Champions League draws at this point, do not show the same focus on ball control this year. Moreover, the coach of the English giants has repeatedly made it clear in press conferences, both in his native English Premier League and in the Champions League, that he is ready to change, and if modern football forces him to act more pragmatically or differently tactically, then Guardiola can emulate this.
Currently, Manchester City are among the top three teams in the 2025/26 Champions League. Having received 13 points in the ranking, the “citizens” lag behind PSG only in additional indicators. It is true that Guardiola’s side have had a complete advantage over their opponents in possession in just three of six Champions League matches. Coincidentally, these were City’s first three games this season; Napoli (2:0), Monaco (2:2) and Villarreal (2:0). In each of these matches, Manchester City had 65-70% of the ball. But in the duel with Borussia Dortmund, Guardiola surprised his opponent by the fact that both teams controlled the ball equally, but the British were much more effective in their attack – 4:1. In fact, the “townspeople” repeated something similar later in the match with Real (2:1), which surprised not only the opponent and the fans, but also many experts. Guardiola is trying to prove that he is much more tactically diverse and flexible than anyone thought…
2. Barcelona – 62.8%
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In the second line of the rating is Guardiola’s former team, which still defines itself precisely by a type of football that dictates the tempo, conditions and other aspects of the game to the opponent. However, in the current Champions League, neither Josep’s current nor his former teams are leading, but we will talk about this later…
Barcelona have little confidence in the 2025/26 Champions League. Flick’s team currently sits only 15th in the standings with 10 points from 6 matches. In four matches, the Blaugranas had a complete advantage over their opponents in terms of possession: 64% against Newcastle, 70% against Olympiacos, 74% against Brugge and 74% against Eintracht. Chelsea (44%) – Flick’s team looked like a fish thrown out of water onto the shore. It is not surprising that Barcelona lost in these matches by 1:2 to the Parisians and 0:3 to the Londoners. Before the end of the general stage, the Catalans will have to play two more matches against Slavia and Copenhagen, and in these matches the Blaugranas will be able to play their usual football, and therefore should not be. Although there are no special problems with getting maximum points, it is not a fact that even this will be enough for the top 8.
1. Paris Saint-Germain – 66.7%
The leader of the current Champions League in terms of average match dominance is the current winner of the tournament, Paris Saint-Germain. But this is predictable to some extent, because the coach of the Parisians is now the Spaniard Luis Enrique, who was inspired by how the work of Josep Guardiola developed at the beginning of his coaching career. For several years, both of these experts have worked in the interests of Barcelona – Enrique is the coach of the second team of the club, and Guardiola is the coach of the main team.
PSG had 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in 6 matches in the current Champions League. Now 13 points are enough for the Parisians to be comfortably among the top three teams of the season; behind only Arsenal (18 points) and Bayern Munich (15 points). Moreover, PSG had more ball possession than their opponents in all six matches. Therefore, in this case, we can easily say that the current cup holder has stuck to his line without making changes to suit his rival. And so far it has brought him results. And what will happen next; The course of events will show…
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
