Translated material
The odd one out among “their own”
Spartak remained third in Group D of the Champions League
Moscow Spartak exchanged the Champions League for the Europa League. After the defeat that Marseille inflicted on the “red-whites” at Luzhniki - 0:3, Valery Karpin’s team lost even its theoretical chances for second place in group “D”, and third place gives the right to continue the fight in the spring only in less prestigious Europa League. So now the outgoing year for Spartak can be considered lost. For the first time in a long time, having spent a season without changing the head coach, the team in the Russian Premier League remained below the medal list and did not take their toll in the Champions League.Three months ago, during the draw, the group that Spartak was included in was considered quite passable. And in general, all of our people gathered there: the Russian vice-champion fought with Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea and Marseille, which is also formally now in Russian hands. The main shareholder of the French club is Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, née Bogdanova. MLD (as the French press calls Madame Louis-Dreyfus for short) did not renounce Russian citizenship, and she inherited the famous French club after the death of her husband, billionaire Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who, by the way, once owned the Adidas company.
Marguerite Louis-Dreyfus, having received Marseille, immediately proclaimed a policy of, if not austerity, then at least reasonable spending. The club began to live more modestly, but at the same time MLD immediately managed to realize the dream of her late husband: in 2010, Marseille became the champion of France for the first time since 1993. Now Madame has reached another milestone - she has reached the playoffs of the Champions League. Marseille has not managed to do something like this since 1993, when it won the Champions Cup. That season, by the way, divided the team's history into two parts. It was then that the previous owner of the club, Bernard Tapie, was convicted of organizing match-fixing, and Marseille, after the famous “OM-Va” scandal, was deprived of the French champion title and eked out a miserable existence until Robert Louis-Dreyfus picked him up.
His widow was preparing for the current Champions League in a big way. In the summer, Marseille spent 35 million euros on new players, but such spending could only pay off if the team made it to the playoffs. But Spartak also has a serious chance to be in the spring stage of the tournament for the first time in 15 years, since the capital club won all six matches in the group in 1995. The “red-whites” missed the opportunity to once again remind themselves of the European elite, hopelessly losing in their main match of the season.
“We will be satisfied with the score 1:0. So we will try to score and play strict defense. If we concede, more goals will be required from us. But we are ready for this,” said Marseille head coach Didier Deschamps on the eve of the match. But his team has taken on increased responsibilities. From the first minutes, the players of the French club at Luzhniki felt more confident than the hosts, who did not have the injured Alex in their lineup, but Ari came on, and Stranzl found a place in the center of defense. The Austrian did not even protect his partner when, in the 18th minute, Valbuena, having received the ball in the penalty area, beat Ibson and shot into the far upper corner - 0:1.
Spartak came to its senses only towards the end of the half. But all the attacks of Karpin’s team turned out to be spontaneous: they covered the opponent in the center of the field, threw the ball and rushed towards the opponent’s goal. But that’s exactly how the red-whites created a couple of chances that could have changed the score. But in one episode, Welliton took too long to swing, and the defenders managed to knock the ball out from under his feet. And soon Makeev’s half-shot, half-cross turned out to be a complete surprise for everyone except the Marseille goalkeeper.
After the break, Spartak managed to pull itself together, and its creative actions became orderly for a while. However, not for long. The first French counterattack in the second half turned out to be fatal for the “red-whites”. Instead of a shot, Remy made a feint, and then followed with a shot from two goal posts - 0:2. And after Welliton, who had failed this match and the entire tournament, was sent off, the guests brought the score to a major one. Brandao scored - 0:3.
But, in fact, it was the second goal that put an end to even Spartak’s theoretical chances of being higher than Marseille, which scored nine points after this victory. Even if both teams score the same number of points after six matches, the “red-whites” will lose to the French due to the results of personal meetings.