Europa League Preview Part I – Rubin Kazan, FC Krasnodar, and Qäbälä FK

Europa League Preview Part I – Rubin Kazan, FC Krasnodar, and Qäbälä FK

By Saul Pope, Andrew Flint, and Vadim Furmanov –

Group B: Rubin Kazan (Russia)

Rubin Kazan: Ready for Europa League take off!

Rubin Kazan: Ready for Europa League take off!

Stadium:

Kazan Arena (45,379)

About the Club:

Rubin is a relative newcomer to the top division, having only made their debut in 2003. They quickly established themselves and twice won the Russian league (in 2008 and 2009). Their European campaigns have not seen them getting past a quarter final, but include famous away victories over Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.

The current Rubin, though, is a far cry from previous successful incarnations. They are currently second from bottom in the Premier League, having won just one of their opening seven games. After last season’s fifth place finish with fairly limited resources manager Rinat Bilyaletdinov might have expected more time to turn things round, but he has just lost his job.

The ghost of the club’s most successful manager, Kurban Berdyev, looms over any other Rubin coach. Berdyev took the club from Russia’s third tier into the top flight and masterminded their two league titles before leaving the club in controversial circumstances in 2013. There is a rumour suggesting Berdyev will now return to the club, though a more likely option would appeared be up and coming Belarusian manager Viktor Goncharenko.

The current Rubin squad is decent though the club lags behind clubs like Zenit Saint Petersburg and CSKA Moscow. English Premier League fans will remember Diniyar Bilyaletdinov – son of the ex-manager and still only thirty, but far from the player that left Russia for Everton. Six foot five Georgian defender Soloman Kvirkwelia made Futbolgrad’s top thirty players of 2014 and has attracted the interested of bigger clubs both in Russia and abroad. At 35 Turkish international midfielder Gökdeniz Karadeniz is still an immense player who gives his all for Rubin, though is currently injured – he suffered concussion after scoring in the recent Europa League play-off against Rabotnicki.

Know your Oligarch:

Recent events show who calls the shots at Rubin. Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov is also President of Rubin’s Stewardship Council, and at the end of August suggested both Bilyaletdinov and Rubin President Valeriy Sorokin leave their jobs. Sorokin was soon replaced with Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, who was ordered to fire Bilyaletdinov. The plot thickens as it emerges that Metshin is friends with legendary Rubin boss Berdyev…

Opponents:

Rubin finished higher in its domestic league than any of Liverpool, Bordeaux or Sion did. None of the sides will be keen on the trip to face Rubin in Tatarstan, which is far from the European border. Liverpool, for example, is around 2500 miles away.

What to expect:

It may be that, as with Anzhi a couple of years ago, a Europa League run is a welcome distraction from a relegation battle for Rubin. Despite this, I expect them to run teams close but ultimately finish third.

You should be reading:

Rubin Kazan – The Pride of Tatarstan

New UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations – A Respite For Russian Clubs?”

Group C: FC Krasnodar (Russia) 

FC Krasnodar: Ready to impress!

FC Krasnodar: Ready to impress!

Stadium:

Kuban Stadium (capacity 31,654)

About the Club:

The rise from nothing to the cusp of Champions League football in the space of seven years is quite remarkable, but Krasnodar are no ordinary club. Owned by the astute Sergey Galitskiy, they have established a firm network of youth academies across their region, have stayed within the boundaries of Financial Fair Play restrictions with sensible – and at times less than entirely honest – business practices, and have engaged with fans by offering visitors from Spartak and Zenit free tickets in exchange for good behaviour.

Their rise owes more than a bit to good fortune. Both promotions were by default, after higher clubs couldn’t meet the necessary financial requirements to gain a license to continue, but their rapid progress since suggests it would only have been a matter of time before they earned it themselves. While they currently share a home with city rivals Kuban, their own stadium is due for completion by next year, which will complete the picture.

The arrivals of Fyodor Smolov, highly-rated Norwegian centre back Stefan Strandberg and Dmitriy Torbinskiy on free ransfers, as well as he loan signing of Charles Kaboré, point to a sustainable recruitment policy. The versatility of Ari, Smolov and Wanderson will be vital in coping with the rigours of competing at home and abroad, while the Nordic defensive partnership of Ragnar Sigurdsson and captain Andreas Grandqvist is a dependable unit.

Once they get over missing out on Europe’s premier competition by a matter of minutes, a reassessment of their realistic aims should see them focus on the Europa League as a better measure of their rapid progress. At a meeting of the RFPL (Russian Football Premier League) last year, Galitskiy himself voiced concerns over disenchanting UEFA, so clearly sees horizons beyond Russia as crucial in his club’s development.

Know your Oligarch:

Sergey Galitskiy – Owner and founder of Russia’s largest retailer Magnit, the Armenian-born entrepreneur has a unique style of operating. He is individual enough to not follow conventional paths, but astute enough to know when to tow the line. Worth an estimated $8.3 billion according to Forbes, he has so far resisted the urge to simply throw money at big name signings, instead deciding to build for the long term.

Opponents:

This year’s opponents require significantly reduced distances to travel compared to last year’s campaign, as they face Borussia Dortmund, Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ FK and the Greeks PAOK Salonika.

Dortmund recovered from a disastrous first half of the season to qualify for Europe as runners up in the DFB Pokal, and have started the season in free-scoring form. Qäbälä will be tricky opponents who like to sit back and counter quickly, while PAOK, managed by former Juventus hard an Igor Tudor, represent the best chance of safe points.

What to expect:

The Greeks have signed former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov but should be beaten comfortably at home, while anything other than six points against Qabala would be seen as a major disappointment. Dortmund are a class above the rest of the group, but may choose to rotate their squad in the Europa League, so second place in the group is a genuinely realistic prospect.

You should be reading:

FK Krasnodar – Sergey Galitskiy’s Pet Project Is Paying Off

Charles Kaboré – Escape From Kuban Krasnodar

Group C: Qäbälä FK (Azerbaijan)

Qäbälä will be debuting in this year's Europa League

Qäbälä will be debuting in this year’s Europa League

Stadium:

Backell Arena, Baku (Capacity 15,000)

Note: Qäbälä’s usual ground is Qäbälä City Stadium, but will play their European matches at Backell Arena in Baku

About the club:

Founded in 2005, Qäbälä FK are the second youngest club in the competition – only FC Krasnodar, founded in 2008, were founded more recently.

They first gained entty the Azerbaijan First Division, the country’s second-highest division, but finished top of the table and immediately gained promotion to the Premier League.   In 2010 the club appointed Arsenal legend Tony Adams as manager, and though he lasted less than two season at the helm, he remains at the club as the Director of Football.

Last season manager Roman Hryhorchuk, who moved to the club from Chornomorets Odessa in December, led the side to a third place finish, equaling their best ever result. More impressively he guided them through three qualifying rounds and a playoff against Panathinaikos to gain a place in the group stage of the Europa League.

Recently, however, they have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In August captain Javid Huseynov was arrested in connection with a murder of a journalist who had criticized his conduct during Qäbälä’s match against Apollon Limassol. More recently, it has emerged that Borussia Dortmund’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan may be barred from entering the country due to a visa issue.

Know your oligarch:

The club is controlled by the Gilan Holding group, a company that belongs to Kamalledin Heydarov, the Minister of Emergencies in Azerbaijan. In typical post-Soviet fashion, the company holds a stake in a wide array of interests, including tourism, retail, and finance.

The public face of the club is Heydarov’s son, Tale Heydarov. The younger Heydarov, educated at the London School of Economics, is the Chairman of the European Azerbaijan society and oversees a number of other initiatives that promote the country’s integration with Europe. 

Opponents:

Borussia Dortmund need no introduction and are early favorites in the competition. PAOK finished third the Greek Super League, while FC Krasnodar were third in the Russian Premier League. While they avoided some of the tougher teams in Pots 2 and 3, this is still a very difficult draw.

What to expect:

Reaching the group stage is already a massive achievement for Qäbälä. Along with Rosenborg, Qäbälä are the only team that started in the first round of qualifiers and reached the group stages. Qäbälä’s victory over Panathinaikos in the playoff round gives hope that they could repeat the feat against PAOK, given that PAOK finished above Panathinaikos last season. Nevertheless, getting out of the group seems highly unlikely – but then again, how many people expected them to get this far in the first place?

You should be reading:

Borussia Dortmund Faces Mkhitaryan Visa Nightmare Before Europa League Match

Saul Pope has been following Russian football since the mid nineties, and first saw a live game in 1998 (Zenit St. Petersburg vs Shinnik Yaroslavl’). He has been contributing to When Saturday Comes magazine for over a decade, with a particular focus on social, economic and political issues surrounding the game in Russia and, to a lesser extent, Ukraine. He has a particular passion for teams in and around St. Petersburg. A fluent Russian speaker, he graduated from the University of Surrey with a Master’s degree in the language. He lives in the UK, but travels back to Russia on a regular basis. You can follow Saul on Twitter @SaulPope.

Andrew Flint is a English freelance football writer living in Tyumen, Western Siberia, with his wife and two daughters. He has featured on These Football Times, Russian Football News, Four Four Two and Sovetski Sport, mostly focusing on full-length articles about derbies, youth development and the game in Russia. Due to his love for FC Tyumen, he is particularly interested in lower league Russian football, and is looking to establish himself in time for the 2018 World Cup. Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewMijFlint.

Vadim Furmanov is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Originally from Ukraine, Vadim has resided in Chicago since 1994 and is a passionate supporter of both Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team. He is also a Chicago Fire season ticket holder and a member of the Fire’s Section 8 supporters group. He writes primarily about Ukrainian football, as well as the intersection between football, politics, and history. You can follow Vadim on Twitter @vfurmanov.

 

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