Translated material
Traumatic weapons
CSKA, having lost its main players, lost to Inter
CSKA's third European campaign threatens to end in failure. The army team, having lost to Inter at home 1:2, have only one point after three matches in the Champions League. Valery Gazzaev’s team can practically forget about leaving the group. Inter left the army team only with the fight for third place, which gives them the right to participate in the UEFA Cup.Russian clubs generally have particularly close relations with Inter. It was this Italian club that in 1966 became the first opponent of Torpedo, the pioneer from the Soviet Union in the Champions Cup. But the “black and blues” have become frequent visitors to Moscow in recent years. Lokomotiv and Spartak have already met with Inter. And without much success. CSKA was unable to improve the statistics.
But it is not surprising that the head coach of the guests, Roberto Mancini, unlike his foreign colleagues, turned out to be well aware of the state of affairs in Russian football. Mancini knows not only who Vagner Love is - a striker who has proven himself well in the Brazilian national team, is already known in Europe - but also other CSKA players. And most importantly, the Italian personally knows Valery Gazzaev. “I know Valery Gazzaev. Really appreciate talking to him. He knows football very well,” Mancini said politely at the pre-match press conference. Three hours earlier, Gazzaev admitted that he was following Italian football - not that he was worried about anyone, but just interested.
Another hour and a half of communication enriched both coaches: the first of them received three points, the second received invaluable experience and practical training on how to save unsuccessful matches.
The first half hour of the game was typical of Italian football. The teams, having first taken care of the reliability of their defensive formations, waged a tactical battle for the center of the field. Its first victim was Patrick Viera. The French defensive midfielder, having received an injury, was forced to ask for a replacement already in the 16th minute. And even before the break, again due to injuries, two army players left the field early: first, Ibrahimovic treated Dudu harshly, and in the last minutes of the half, Figo roughly crashed into Alexei Berezutsky - the defender was taken under the stands in an electric car.
If the score had been equal by that time, CSKA's chances of winning this match would have been close to zero. But the home team managed to score in the 31st minute. Jo, having received a pass from Carvalho, who replaced the injured Vagner Love in the starting lineup, won a short fight against the defenders and parachuted the ball behind Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar. So one of the few dangerous moments of the first half turned into a goal.
But before the second half began, the score was level. And again the army team co-authored the goal against Mandrykin. Seemingly having already dealt with Inter's attack, the Muscovites' defenders ricocheted the ball right onto Crespo's foot. All he had to do was not hit the running goalkeeper - 1:1.
A draw did not suit both teams: CSKA lost any real chance of leaving the group; Inter, as the leader of the Italian championship, was somehow undignified to return from Moscow with a draw. So one or the other went on the attack alternately. But the army men, drained of blood by injuries, rarely bothered Julio Cesar. Carvalho was tired - it was unlikely that according to the original coaching plan he should have played a full match. Ratinho, who came out on the right flank, did not fit into the game, Yanchik was unable to turn the tide of the meeting, and Gazzaev had no one else to strengthen the attack in the absence of Wagner Lav.
In addition, Inter was lucky. And in the second goal of the visitors, the share of chance was very large. Once again, as in the previous round, Mandrykin made an unforgivable mistake. The ball in a harmless situation passed through the hands of the army goalkeeper, and Valery Gazzaev once again regretted the injury to his team’s main goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. Without him, CSKA will not even reach the UEFA Cup at this rate.