Europa League: which of the Russian football players will compete in the UEFA tournaments

The last international break for national team games this year has ended, and three weeks later, European cups return to the busy schedule of world football. The group stage of the three main tournaments is crossing the equator. In the Champions League, Kairat and Egor Sorokin will play away against Copenhagen, Alexander Golovin's Monaco will have an away match with Cyprus's Paphos, Matvey Safonov's PSG will host English Tottenham at home. In the Europa League, the PAOK of Magomed Ozdoev and Fedor Chalov will play on their own field with the Norwegian Brann, while Daniil Khudyakov's Storm will travel to the Greek Panathinaikos.

Matvey Safonov (PSG)

The Parisian club starts the second half of the Champions League group stage as one of the leaders of the tournament. The current winner of the trophy, after four rounds, is in fifth place, three points from first place, and received the only defeat from the leading Bayern.

The Parisians' next opponent is Tottenham. Despite the not—so—enviable position in the English championship - ninth place, one point in the last three games and a crushing 4-1 defeat to Arsenal - the Londoners are doing pretty well in the Champions League. Thomas Frank's team is in tenth place and, if they win this Wednesday, they will overtake their French opponents in the table (with only one point between them).

Unfortunately for Matvey Safonov's personal fans, the Russian is unlikely to play in the upcoming match. So far, the former goalkeeper of Krasnodar is only wearing a national team T-shirt this season. The untouchable Luc Chevalier, who made his debut in Didier Deschamps' team a week ago (3-1 against Azerbaijan), will take his place in the frame.

Moving away from Stankovich: how Spartak will play after the coach's dismissal

The red and white are preparing for the derby with CSKA, Lokomotiv will take on the leader, Dynamo will play a match without Karpin for the first time.

Alexander Golovin (Monaco)

After a strong start in Ligue 1, the Monegasques got a little sad, suffered three consecutive defeats with a total score of 2-9 and dropped to eighth place. In the main European tournament, the situation is no better: Monaco is in 19th place with a single victory over the Norwegian Bud Glimt.

The coming Wednesday will be a great opportunity for Alexander Golovin's team to rise slightly in the Champions League table, strengthening their positions for the subsequent playoffs. Sebastian Pocognoli's team will play against Paphos, which was initially considered one of the main outsiders of the current draw. But at the moment, the Cypriots have the same number of points as Monaco, losing only on goal difference.

Golovin himself recovered from his injury in early October and gradually returned to the starting line-up of the team. On his second appearance after recovery, he even did a double — Nantes suffered. Our midfielder missed the last championship match against Rennes, but he played in both matches of the Russian national team, and scored a goal against Peru. We are waiting for Alexander at the start of the game with Pathos.

Egor Sorokin ("Kairat")

A month ago, Almaty became the champions of Kazakhstan in the most dramatic style, having drawn 1-1 in the last round with Astana, which eventually fell two points behind. After that, we only met with Inter, losing to the Italians with a score of 2:1. The match with Copenhagen will be only the second for Kairat since October 26, which will definitely not be an additional bonus.

With one point, the yellow-blacks are in the top three of the Champions League table. The only encouraging thing is that almost all the strongest opponents are behind (only Arsenal remained in the final round), and the nearest rival is on the next line. The trip will be difficult — Copenhagen has only lost once at home since mid-August, and that was against Borussia Dortmund.

Sorokin is the leader of the Kairat defense. In the Champions League, Egor played the maximum number of minutes, starting from the first qualifying stage. It will definitely come out from the very first minutes.

Nikita Khaykin ("Buda-Glimt")

Haikin's Norwegian team has a very important week ahead of them: on Tuesday, the game against Juventus in the Champions League, and on Sunday, the final round of the season against Fredrikstad in the championship. There, Bude is one point behind Viking.

The Norwegian champion started the European Cup autumn well — they took away points from Slavia (2:2) and bit Tottenham (2:2) in the Arctic Circle. Then, however, there were misfires with Galatasaray and Monaco. The match with Juve will be a home match, which is traditionally a serious test for those who come to Aspmir Stadium.

Khaykin, of course, will be at the start. Nikita is one of the main creators of the historical successes of Bud Glimt. Perhaps we will see the goalkeeper at the upcoming World Cup in North America — at the moment, Haikin is in the process of obtaining Norwegian citizenship.

Daniil Khudyakov ("Storm")

We are moving to a tournament just below the level — the Europa League. Sturm is approaching the fifth round match with Panathinaikos as one of the leaders of the Austrian Bundesliga. In LE, it's still sad: they are balancing on the border of the top 24 clubs that will go to the playoffs of the tournament.

The 21-year-old Russian goalkeeper did not play for a long time due to a wrist fracture sustained in the summer, and it was only since the beginning of November that he began to gain strength in the second team of Sturm. Last season, head coach Jurgen Seumel gave Daniil the opportunity to prove himself in European competitions, but with Panathinaikos, he will most likely release the main keeper Oliver Christensen.

Magomed Ozdoev, Fedor Chalov (PAOK)

After a bad start, the Greeks confidently recovered with victories over Lille (3:4) and Young Boys (4:0). If Norwegian Brann, another daring dark horse of the tournament, wins on Thursday, they have every chance to jump into the top 8.

Our compatriots have already become quite comfortable in Greece: Ozdoev is in the status of the best scorer of black and white, and Chalov plays regularly, although not always at the start. Recently, Magomed shot doubles in two consecutive rounds of the Super League and scored an assist in the defeat of the Young Boys, Fedor scored an assist with Lille — we are waiting for new achievements from the Russian duo.

Two in one: Degtyarev was offered to introduce a limit on foreign coaches

This idea was suggested by the former mentors of the Russian national team — Gazzaev, Semin and Cherchesov.

Nikita Iosifov ("Tsele")

Iosifov's Celje is the second team of the Conference League-25/26 right now. So far, only three rounds have passed here, and the Slovenian club has an almost flawless record: nine points with a 7-2 goal difference. They destroy everyone indiscriminately, the Greek AEK, the Polish Legia and the Irish Shamrock Rovers fell under the hot hand of Albert Riera and his players. The new target is the Czech Sigma Olomouc, a great opportunity to continue the win—win streak.

Our winger has been striking this season, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists in 27 matches in all competitions. Nikita, of course, is the main player in LC and has 1+1 in his asset. With such excellent form, there is a prospect of continuing the scoring streak in the tournament.