Head coach of Spartak Guillermo Abascal summed up the match of the 2nd round of the Russian Premier League with Krasnodar (4: 1).
First of all I would like to thank and dedicate the first point to Luca Cattani, who invited me to the club and thanks to whoever I am here. I would like to dedicate the second point to our fans, who have incredibly supported us: it was as if we were playing in our home stadium. I would like to dedicate the third point to my wife, who has sacrificed herself so much and is with me in Russia.
The first few minutes were good in Krasnodar’s performance, we had a very difficult moment. Credit has to be given to the opponent for this period, but after that we were able to steer the game in the right direction and do everything as we had prepared. Krasnodar gave a lot of opportunities, there was a lot of space and their goalkeeper always tried to play directly forward – we wanted to use him. In ball possession sometimes the specifics were lacking, but in general the game went well for us.
Was there any fear that Sobolev would receive a second yellow card? Football is made up of chances and today, for example, a goal conceded to a certain extent has also changed our game program. It happens, and this is football. As for Sobolev’s game, he had an excellent match, simply incredible. He fought well and held on to the ball, that’s basically what he can do. I can only praise him and wish him to play with the same spirit.
Is it clear how serious Jikia’s injury is? We do not know the exact diagnosis now, the medical examination will be later. She felt pain in her adductor muscle in the first half and talked about it in the interval. However, he showed character and spent minutes on the pitch worthily in the second half, proving himself to be a true Spartak player fighting for the club and the crest.
Should we wait for Denisov as right-back after Rybus is able to play? In general, we have a very young team and Denisov is a very young player, we must not forget that. In this case, he needs to get more playing time, even if he plays out of position. He gives himself completely to the game, he is ready and has a lot of desire. It was very important for him to get those minutes against such an opponent. This experience is very important to him, we have to support him. He is very young. I hope it continues like this.
