“Abascal twitched.” Spartak lost to Zenit due to a coaching mistake

I initially bet on Zenit. My argument was that the Petersburgers look more reliable in defense, and in general Semak’s team is more balanced.

At the beginning of the season, Zenit had problems due to losses in the center of the field. In the end, it was due to the middle line that the team always had the advantage and controlled the ball. In our times, they said: “show me your midfield and I will tell you what kind of team you have.” Now, it seems that these problems are gradually being solved.

In this match, everything was decided by the Claudinho-Wendel-Barrios triangle. The first two designed and completed attacks, the last cemented the support zone and helped the defenders. Interestingly, Zenit completely abandoned the pressure on someone else’s half. When the ball was lost, the Petersburgers immediately retreated and blocked all zones. Spartak did not have the slightest opportunity to run away.

Here it should also be noted the importance of the scheme with three central defenders, which Semak began to prepare in advance. Even at the training camp, he understood that his team would have problems with defense. As a result, the coach released Karavaev, Erakovich and Alip – a trio that has not yet played in such a combination. And he did not lose: for the entire match, Spartak did not have a single truly scoring chance.

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Abascal did not guess with the composition. After the defeat to the Urals, he twitched and made some strange decisions. As a result, neither Promes, nor Medina, nor Ignatov was really visible in the first half. Plus, Duarte again made mistakes in defense. Only after the substitutions in the second half did the Red-Whites start to get something ahead.

At some point, Muscovites even began to put pressure on Zenit. It also helped that Promes left the flank and began to play under Sobolev. However, the guests were still ready for it. They themselves easily tore apart the opponent’s defense: the second ball is especially indicative in this regard. Only two passes were enough for the Petersburgers to bring Wendel one on one with Svinov. How could you let him go like that?!