Lokomotiv in the UEFA Cup. The best matches of Lokomotiv in European Cups

Next season, Russia will be represented in European competition by Spartak, CSKA, Zenit, Krasnodar and Lokomotiv. Read about who our clubs might be rivals on the international stage in our material.

“Spartak” – group stage of the Champions League

The Red and Whites are back in the main European competition after four years and their starting position looks very attractive thanks to victory in the Premier League. The capital club, as befits a Russian champion, got into the first pot, which means it will avoid meeting at least Real Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea, Juventus, Monaco, Benfica and Shakhtar , although with the latter, for obvious reasons, he would have been divorced anyway. Perhaps this is the only one hundred percent forecast that can be made regarding the future of Spartak in the group stage of the Champions League. The Russian champion's opponents will be announced at the draw ceremony in Monaco on August 24.

In addition to him, 21 teams have already reached the group stage: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético Madrid (all from Spain), Bayern, Leipzig, Borussia D (all from Germany), Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United (all England), Juventus, Roma (both Italy), Monaco, PSG (both France), Benfica, “Porto” (both Portugal), “Shakhtar” (Ukraine), “Anderlecht” (Belgium), “Feyenoord” (Netherlands), “Besiktas” (Turkey), “Basel” (Switzerland).

CSKA – 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League

Unlike their fellow countrymen, the army team will have to take two steps to the group stage, or rather four, if we take into account the number of matches they will have to play. Let us remind you that the qualification of the main European Cup is divided into two branches - the path of champions and the path of league representatives. CSKA will be in second place, which also includes Dynamo (Ukraine), Ajax (Netherlands), Viktoria Pilsen (Czech Republic), Brugge (Belgium), Steaua (Romania), Young Boys (Switzerland) ), “Istanbul” (Turkey) and “Nice” (France). A little later they will be joined by the second team of the Greek Super League. Now AEK, PAOK and Panathinaikos are competing to win the mini-tournament for the second spot in the Champions League from Greece.

All ten participants in the third qualifying round will be divided into five pairs according to their odds. The army team has 39,606 points, which allows them to be guaranteed to be among the “seeded” teams. Accordingly, his opponents may include Steaua (35,370), Young Boys (28,915), Nice (16,833), Istanbul (10,340) or a representative of Greece. The Romanians or the Swiss certainly seem like a more favorable draw than the French or the Turks, but overall CSKA should be up to the task no matter who they face. The draw for this stage will take place on July 14.

The main test will await the Muscovites at the next stage, where representatives of the top European championships will enter the game. It is already known that Sevilla (Spain, 112,942), Liverpool (England, 56,135), Napoli (Italy, 88,666), Sporting (Portugal, 36,866) and Hoffenheim ( Germany, 15,899). The first three will definitely be among the “seeded”, so if at least two teams from the trio advance from the third round to the playoff round - Dynamo Kiev (67,526), ​​Victoria Pilsen (40,635), Ajax ( 67.212), then the army men will no longer be “seeded.” At the same time, representatives of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands will become potential rivals of CSKA. With a high degree of probability, at this stage our team will receive a very serious opponent. We will find out who exactly it will be on August 4th, the first playoff matches are scheduled for August 15th and 16th, and the second ones on the 22nd and 23rd.

“Zenit” and “Krasnodar” – 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League

Both Russian clubs will begin their performance in the second most important European Cup two stages before the group stage, and approximately the same fate awaits them in qualifying. In the third round, the rules are exactly the same as in the Champions League, but there are almost six times more participants – 58. The distribution into “seeded” and “unseeded” is also carried out in accordance with the club rankings. Both Zenit (87,106 points) and Krasnodar (32,106) are guaranteed to be in the first group, so they will face frankly weak opponents.

It’s too early to guess who exactly it will be, since the majority of participants will be those who have gone through the previous stages. But to roughly imagine the level of resistance, you can name the Norwegian “Branne”, the Swedish “Östersund” or the Polish “Arka”. Our teams will find out their opponents on July 14, will play their first matches with them on the 27th, and return matches on August 3rd.

But at the playoff stage it will be much more difficult, since those teams that are eliminated from the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where CSKA begins its European Cup season, will also get there. In the event of a defeat, Zenit and Krasnodar will not get caught by the army team, but among the above-mentioned Muscovite colleagues there are many serious clubs. Another thing is that the coefficient of both our teams will allow them to be among the “seeded” ones, so they should encounter quite passable opponents. In any case, there will definitely not be clubs here that can be considered grandees. The draw for the playoffs will take place on August 4, and the matches will be played on the 17th and 24th respectively.

Lokomotiv – group stage of the Europa League

As the winners of the Russian Cup, the railway workers will bypass the qualifying rounds and will immediately enter the autumn stage. Over the past five years, Lokomotiv has not spoiled fans with success on the international stage, so its rating is not so high - 97th place with 20,606 points to its credit. With a high degree of probability, this will allow Muscovites to count only on the third basket. There is a chance to get into the second, but for this it is necessary that several clubs with a higher rating drop out of the tournament in qualifying. Lokomotiv will find out its group stage opponents in Monaco on August 24.

Besides him, Villarreal, Real Sociedad (both Spain), Cologne, Hertha (both Germany), Arsenal (England), Atalanta, Lazio will definitely play in the Europa League in the fall. (both Italy), Vitoria G (Portugal), Lyon (France), Zulte Waregem (Belgium), Vitesse (Netherlands) and Fastav (Czech Republic).

This season, Lokomotiv Moscow is fighting for the Russian champion title for the first time in many years. I don’t know whether the railway workers will become champions, but they will definitely perform in the Champions League, and therefore I remember their best matches in European competition.

The best matches of Lokomotiv Moscow in European club tournaments

10th place: Bayern - Lokomotiv 0:1

• Date: September 12, 1995.
• Match status: first match of the 1/32 finals of the UEFA Cup.

Then Lokomotiv was very unlucky with the draw - already in the first match our club ended up with the formidable Bayern. However, Loko, contrary to all forecasts, managed to win in Munich thanks to a goal from Evgeny Kharlachev.

This match could have been ranked much higher if not for the result of the return match - in Moscow, Bayern cut the daring upstart to smithereens - 5:0. In the end, the Munich team won the UEFA Cup, and the defeat from the Russians was their only one in the entire tournament.

9th place: Lokomotiv – Real Madrid 2:0

• Date: October 30, 2001.
• Match status: first group stage of the Champions League.

Another high-status rival, and the low place in the ranking is due to the fact that Real, having already solved their tournament problems, brought a semi-reserve squad to Moscow for the last round match.

But Russian clubs in official games did not beat the “royal” club so often that they would neglect this match. In addition, after this victory, Loko took third place and received the right to play in the UEFA Cup in the spring.

8th place: Anderlecht – Lokomotiv 1:5

• Date: October 24, 2001.

A week earlier, the railway workers won their first victory in the group stage of the Champions League. They had one point, Anderlecht had 2, and both teams could no longer count on more than third place.

Lokomotiv conceded in the 2nd minute, but already in the first half they equalized the score and took the lead, and in the second they brought the matter to a rout.

7th place: Lokomotiv - Tirol 3:1

• Date: August 7, 2001.
• Match status: 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League.

This victory made it possible for Lokomotiv to get into the main Champions League tournament for the first time. The match turned out to be difficult - the Austrians also responded quickly to Jacob Lekheto's quick goal, and even the second goal, scored, did not give Loko a comfortable advantage. Only in the 79th minute after an accurate shot did the score become more acceptable.

Then there was a victory in Innsbruck, the cancellation of the result of this match, a nervous replay that ended with the victory of Tyrol 1:0, but everything ended well for Lokomotiv.

6th place: Galatasaray - Lokomotiv 1:2

• Date: October 29, 2002.
• Match status: first group stage of the Champions League.

In the 2002-2003 season, Lokomotiv made it past the first group stage of the Champions League for the first time, although the tournament started badly - only one point in four matches.

The first victory was achieved in Istanbul thanks to goals from Dmitry Loskov and Vadim Evseev.

5th place: Lokomotiv - Brugge 2:0

• Date: November 13, 2002.
• Match status: first group stage of the Champions League.

In the next match, the railway workers, in addition to victory, needed the obligatory loss of points by Galatasaray in the meeting with Barcelona.

Both conditions were met, and Lokomotiv advanced to the next stage of the tournament. The goals were then scored by Brazilian Julio Cesar and Dmitry Loskov.

4th place: Nice - Lokomotiv 2:3

• Date: February 15, 2018.
• Match status: first leg of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League.

A very recent match in which Lokomotiv won a strong-willed victory, practically predetermining the outcome of the two-game confrontation.

By the end of half an hour of the game, the railway workers received two goals from Mario Balotelli, to which they responded with three accurate shots from Manuel Fernandes.

3rd place: Lokomotiv - Maccabi Haifa 3:0

• Date: March 4, 1999.
• Match status: first quarter-final match of the Cup Winners' Cup.

The defeat of the Israeli club brought Lokomotiv a ticket to the semi-finals of the then second most important European trophy.

All three goals were scored by the Muscovites' Georgian legionnaire Zaza Janashia, and the hat-trick turned out to be a classic - the forward scored all the goals in the second half.

2nd place: Lokomotiv - AEK 2:1

• Date: March 19, 1998.
• Tournament stage: return quarter-final match of the Cup Winners' Cup.

A year earlier, Loko had already played in the semi-finals of this tournament, but that victory was much more dramatic. The match in Athens ended in a goalless draw; at home the railway workers took the lead after a goal by Evgeniy Kharlachev in the 54th minute, but the Greeks soon equalized the score.

The draw that suited the guests lasted until the second added minute, when Igor Chugainov finally scored a goal, snatching his team a ticket to the semi-finals. This was fair, since earlier the referee did not count two clear goals by the railway workers.

1st place: Lokomotiv - Inter 3:0

• Date: October 21, 2003.
• Tournament stage: Champions League group stage.

The coolest victory of the Moscow club. In the third round, Loko, which had one point, took on Inter, which was in the lead with a 100% score, and had no right to misfire.

As part of the Milan club, Javier Sanetti, Marco Materazzi, Christian Vieri, Alvaro Recoba and other stars came to Moscow.

But Loko won without question, and this victory turned out to be decisive in the distribution of places in the group - Lokomotiv was ahead of Inter in terms of additional indicators.

I hope that in the fall the railway workers will give me the opportunity to correct this rating.

The leader of the Russian championship on the Cote d'Azur managed to win back two goals conceded in the first half and even win, with Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes scoring a hat-trick. In Moscow, Semin’s team only needs to play a draw to reach the 1/8 finals; Lokomotiv would be happy even with a defeat with a score of 0:1 or 1:2, but the coach sets his players up only for victory.

Lokomotiv was preparing for the return match at its base in Bakovka, near Moscow. Semin said that the conditions were very difficult due to the severe frost. The Lokomotiv coach does not believe that the cold will play in his team’s favor, given that the training in Moscow was not very high quality, and the opponent recently played a good match in the French championship with Nantes (1:1) and is in good shape.

The French are ready to play in the cold

By Thursday evening in Moscow, temperatures down to 20 degrees are expected. Earlier, the press service of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) reported that the organization does not have a fixed temperature at which meetings cannot be held. However, they emphasized that if the air temperature is below 15 degrees, then the match is held with the consent of both parties.

“It’s unusual for us to have a lot of snow, but we’re playing in February. We need to play, no matter what, I don’t think the meeting will be postponed,” said Nice’s Swiss coach Lucien Favre.

Fans will be treated to free hot tea before the match. Lokomotiv fans will be able to purchase warm red and green blankets for 100 rubles.

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Nice ranks only ninth in the French Championship, breaking a streak of three defeats in a row on Sunday by playing at home with fifth-placed Nantes with a score of 1:1.

Semin noted the team play and Balotelli

Lokomotiv should be wary of Nice attack leader Mario Balotelli, who scored two goals in the home match, and the Italian has a total of 20 goals this season. Semin noted the performance of this player, but added that Nice does not depend on Balotelli alone.

“They have a team game with its pros and cons. We need to be careful about ourselves, we can win and advance if we play to 100 percent of our capabilities,” the coach said.

Lokomotiv will play its first match of the Russian championship after the winter break only on March 4, when it will host Spartak Moscow. Semin’s team is eight points ahead of the Red-Whites and Zenit, with 10 rounds left to play in the Premier League. Before the Europa League playoffs, Lokomotiv added Brazilian Ari and Croatian Vedran Corluka, who had recovered from serious injuries, and Ari appeared in Nice in the starting lineup, playing 70 minutes. With Ari's return, Peruvian midfielder Jefferson Farfan was brought into the reserves.

The match will take place at the capital's RZD Arena, the game will begin at 19:00 Moscow time. Pavel Kralovets from the Czech Republic was appointed chief referee. Senegalese defender Racine Koly, who was sent off in the teams' first game, was suspended from Nice.

The draw for the 1/8 finals will take place on Friday.

Eh, just recently, Champions League matches were mandatory on the Lokomotiv Moscow calendar. Four years have not passed since our beautiful stadium hosted matches of the most prestigious European club tournament. However, the fall of the red-greens began just after the ill-fated defeat in Cherkizovo from the mediocre “Rapid”.

Well, the debut took place in August 2000, when Lokomotiv played a match in Istanbul against the Turkish Besiktas. And, I must say, the first pancake turned out to be lumpy. Two defeats in the 3rd qualifying round made us forget about the group tournament for a year...

In this article I will not recall the memorable games of the railway workers in the Champions League. There were so many of them that the story would be too long. I hope someday we’ll get to this topic. In the meantime, I bring to your attention scans of program covers from Lokomotiv matches in the Champions League.

The program was not released in Istanbul. But our press service did not disappoint, preparing a colorful and quite informative booklet.

In the period from 1997 to 2003. Programs for Lokomotiv home matches were not regularly released. To fill the voids in collectors' archives, KB publications came to the rescue. That's why I included them in this unique catalog.

The crowded stadium in Ramenskoye welcomed Lokomotiv's first victory in the Champions League. True, so far only within the qualifying round. But there will be more.

But this is already a “serious” exhibit. Similar items from that very scandalous match in Innsbruck in the collections of our football lovers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. I have never seen this newspaper program either at auctions or in the exchange funds of the most advanced collectors. We can say that this is a real rarity.

Unlike this one. There were plenty of our fans at the replay, so the amount of “waste paper” brought was enough for everyone.

The replay of the match "Tirol" - "Lokomotiv" played a cruel joke on the press service of FC "Victoria Zizkov". Not knowing who will be the loser in the confrontation between the Austrian and Russian clubs and will go to the consolation tournament - the UEFA Cup, the local journalists had to make the only correct, in my opinion, decision - to present both our team and the club from Innsbruck as a possible opponent (even if it were not okay).

Finally. Lokomotiv's first match in the group stage of the Champions League. It’s a pity that the home arena turned out to be the Dynamo stadium, where, to put it mildly, conditions were created for ordinary spectators that clearly did not correspond to the level of the tournament. Someone will probably remember how much time they had to lose getting into the stands. As for programs, all home editions are still available.

But the main problem of that draw is the Roma - Lokomotiv program. You can get it, but you will have to shell out an impressive amount.

The circulation of this program is 4500 copies. For those years - an absolute record.

I remember this match with great pleasure. Anderlecht had an impressive territorial advantage, but the goals flew into the hosts' gates with surprising ease. The first victory in the main round, and immediately a big one.

"Lokomotiv" - "Real" - 2:0. And that's it.

The 2002/2003 Champions League was unique for Lokomotiv. During one tournament, the railway workers played 14 (!) matches. Our press service did not disappoint either, preparing programs for all matches. Unlike rivals. There were no pre-match booklets in Graz, Bruges, Barcelona, ​​Istanbul, Madrid or Milan. Only Borussia Dortmund took care of observing a tradition that dates back more than a hundred years.

“What pain, what pain, Lokomotiv - Brugge - 2:0,” our fans sang after the end of the match, which allowed the red-greens to get into the second group stage of the Champions League.

My opinion is that in the first half of the match with Borussia, Loko showed the best game of its entire participation in European tournaments. Unfortunately, the match lasts 90 minutes, not 45.

KB publications are distributed not only in Russia, but also in Germany.

The next rally also turned out to be successful for Lokomotiv. In qualifying, having first lost in Donetsk (0:1), the red-greens took revenge at home (3:1).

I remember the excellent support from the crowded stands for that time. Most importantly, the noise was not limited to the South Stand. This is about the topic of “Kuzmichas”, whom some particularly hotheads do not want to see at the stadium.

And here are examples of “software chaos”. In those years, FC Dynamo Kyiv did not release official programs. But there were many copyright publications. The Lvov appearance was normally accepted by collectors and “went” for the office.

I liked the edition from Nezhin for its printing.

The match with Arsenal caused the greatest excitement during Lokomotiv's entire performance in the EC. Gate tickets from speculators were sold from 500 rubles (adjust for inflation).

There was also plenty of printed material for the Moscow match between Lokomotiv and Arsenal, but only three types of programs were sold at the stadium. The most outrageous thing is that I came across editions of this game made in Ukraine and Moldova. What do they have to do with Lokomotiv?

The production of several types of programs is also practiced in the homeland of football. This publication was distributed among journalists and visitors to VIP boxes. It’s nice that all materials were dubbed in Russian.

The Eurocups and UEFA odds blog continues the series “Russian Clubs in European Cups”. This time, in an article presented in two parts, we will talk in detail about Semin’s team.

Part one: 1993 2001.

1993/94. In Soviet times, Lokomotiv Moscow did not achieve success that allowed them to participate in European cups, being known as “the fifth wheel in the cart of Moscow football.” Lokomotiv was saved from relegation from the Major League by the results of the 1991 season (last place) by the collapse of the USSR.

But the next season the railway workers took 4th place, which allowed them to participate in the UEFA Cup.

The draw is strict for debutants, the opponent is the current UEFA Cup winner, who occupied 3rd place in the then UEFA club ranking Juventus.

The historic match for Lokomotiv took place on September 15, 1993 at the Renato del Aro stadium in Bologna. After a goalless first half, future 1993 Ballon d'Or winner Roberto Baggio took the lead. He scored two goals himself, and Ravanelli finished another goal into the net after a shot from “Tail.” 3:0.

Lokomotiv's European Cup debut as a stadium took place on September 28. The only goal was scored by Giancarlo Morocchi.

UEFA Cup, 1/32 finals, 2 matches, 0-0-2(wins-draws-losses), 0-4 (goals scored and missed). Without scoring points, Lokomotiv did not make it into the club ratings.

Let me remind you that the club rating was then compiled by summing up the indicators of the last 5 seasons, and the season score was considered by dividing the points earned during the season (for a win 2, for a draw 1) by the number of games played, i.e. the average season score.

The points scored by the club are indicated in brackets.

1995/96. Again the UEFA Cup, again Lokomotiv is unseeded, and again it faces the grand prize. This time it was Bayern.

Olympiastadion, Munich, September 12, 1995. The first European Cup goal (Kharlachev) brings the first victory and the first European points. Nobody knew Lokomotiv in Europe, and the 0:1 result was regarded as a sensation (however, it was such).

In the return match, the inexperienced Muscovites did not play from the score, try to catch their opponents on counterattacks, but decided to finish off the “wounded” Bavarians in Munich. The clock struck midnight, Loko scored five unanswered goals.

UEFA Cup, 1/32 finals, 2 matches, 1-0-1, 1-5. Scored two points in the TC and one point in the club rating. In the seasonal ranking he shared 48th place with ten clubs, and in the ranking of clubs with one he was in 134th place.

1996/97. In 1996, Lokomotiv won their first Russian Cup, as a result of which they made their debut in the Cup Winners' Cup.

The victory over Bayern was not in vain, and the railway workers were seeded in the 1/16 finals.

The Croatian "Vartex" fell out. The home match was won 1:0 the only goal was scored in the 12th minute by Cherevchenko; the guests did not take advantage of their numerical advantage after Kharlachev was sent off in the 61st minute. In Varadzhin (the city represented by Vartex), Kosolapov scores at the end of the first half, and the Croats now need to score three. Vugrynets scores a double, but with the score 2:1, Lokomotiv goes on.

In the next stage, the railway workers are no longer seeded, and their opponent is Lisbon Benfica. In the match at Da Luz, João Pinto scored the only goal. In the opening of the Moscow match, Solomatin restores the balance, the first half ends 1:0.

The goal was scored in the 8th minute, and in the 11th and 29th minutes Gurenko received a yellow card, and Benfica was in the majority. At the beginning of the second half, Lokomotiv scores a second goal, but the referee cancels it after a side signal for offside. The Portuguese immediately equalized the score. The match ended 3:2 in favor of the guests (1:0 Solomatin 8′, 1:1 Panduru 48′, 2:1 Garas 59′, 2:2 Donizeti 63′, 2:3 Joao Pinto 89′).

« I am the main culprit of defeat. Gurenko is self-critical after the match. ? If it weren’t for my stupid sending off, I have no doubt that we would have passed Benfica. After all, it all started well...(About violations) First I hit the ball after the whistle. I swear, this happened for the first time in my life. I don’t even know what came over me at that moment. And in the second episode, I didn’t intend to hit the Portuguese, but my foot slipped on a slippery field and I accidentally caught him».

Cup Winners' Cup, 1/8 finals, 4 matches, 2-0-2, 4-6. 2 points were scored in the TC, 0.5 points were added to the club rating. 77th place in the season rating, and rose to 111th place in the club rating (1.5 points).

1997/98. Second Russian Cup, second ticket to the Cup Winners' Cup.

In the first stage (1/16 finals), the Belarusian “Belshina” drops out. “Lokomotiv” is already a seasoned European Cup fighter, and does not allow anyone to doubt their own superiority – they won 1:2 away and 3:0 at home.

In the 1/8, the railwaymen are still seeded; the Turkish Kocaelispor goes to the lottery. The first match took place at Lokomotiv; after Kharlachev’s goal in the 1st half, the Turks equalized the score in the 73rd minute, but Janashia’s header in the 84th minute brought victory to the Muscovites.

The match in Izmit ends 0:0, and Lokomotiv for the first time in its history enters the spring part of the European Cup.

The first match of the quarterfinals in Athens against AEK was a battle. The teams earned 7 warnings between them, and in the 75th and 90th minutes the players of the Greek club received a red card.

In the return match, Markus Merk was the soloist. With the score 1:0 (Kharlachev, 54′), Lokomotiv receives a dubious penalty, AEK sets the score 1:1, which completely suits the Greek club. Then Janashia scores, but the refereeing team considers Kharlachev to be offside, then Kharlachev himself scores, but the goal is again not counted due to offside.

At the end of the match, Nigmatullin runs into someone else's penalty area for a set piece, but the Greeks fight back. In the last seconds of the second compensated minute (Lokomotiv had already collapsed into an open collapse), Kharlachev made a cross from the corner of the goalkeeper's area and Chugainov headed the ball over the goal line from a couple of meters.

Cup Winners' Cup semi-final, possible opponents: Vicenza, Chelsea and Stuttgart (seeding not carried out at this stage). The winner of the German Cup was awarded. The first match took place in Stuttgart, and the opponents responded to Janashia’s goal with goals from Akpobori in the 43rd minute and Bobic in the 90th. In the return match, the same Bobic scored the only goal.

Cup Winners' Cup, 1/2 finals. 8 matches, 4-2-2, 10-6. 12 points (2 bonus) were scored in the TC, 1.5 points in the club rating. In the season rating, Lokomotiv is in 14th place, in the club rating with a coefficient of 3.0 it has risen to 56th place.

For the first time, Lokomotiv is making a significant contribution to the country's technical complex. In addition, after the first successful European Cup season, the club becomes second among Russian teams in the UEFA club rankings.

1998/99. For the third time in a row, Lokomotiv is participating in the Cup Winners' Cup (in the Russian Cup final it lost to Spartak, which qualified for the Champions League).

In the 1/16, a club from the former USSR, CSKA Kiev, fell out again. Two victories: 0:2 away and 3:1 at home.

In the next stage we met with the Portuguese “Sporting” from Braga, known to us simply as “Braga”. The hero of the match was 18-year-old Dmitry Bulykin, who scored a double and was close to a hat-trick (in the 89th minute, goalkeeper Paulo Morais fouled him and was ejected from the field for a foul of last resort). The match score is 3:1.

In the return game, the Portuguese opened the scoring in the 13th minute, but Lokomotiv maintained the advantage of the Moscow match. For the second year in a row, the railway workers entered the spring stage.

In the quarterfinals against Maccabi Haifa, Janashia scores a hat-trick (score 3:0), and, in fact, everything becomes clear even before the return match. The only away goal is scored by Chugainov from the penalty spot.

The first semi-final match against Lazio takes place in Russia. The Muscovites manage to hold off a pair of Salas-Vieri attacks, and in the 60th minute Janashia opens the scoring. Eriksson successively replaces the forwards with Boksic and Mancini, and the Croatian brings his club a 1:1 draw. In Rome, the match ends without any goals scored, and the Italians advance to the final.

Loko repeated last year's success - reaching the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup. Note that, thanks to its high rating, the Russian club was seeded at all stages until the semi-finals (in the semi-finals the draw took place blindly without seeding).

Cup Winners' Cup, 1/2 finals. 8 matches, 5-2-1, 13-4. 14 points (2 bonus) were scored in TC. In the club rating, which from this season is calculated according to a different principle, there are the same 14 points. In the seasonal ranking, Lokomotiv is 13th, in the club ranking it is in 33rd place with an indicator of 43.912 .

Lokomotiv 1999 makes the main contribution to the TC half of all points scored, for the first time the club becomes the first among Russian teams in terms of points scored during the season.

1999/2000. In the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, Muscovites met with BATE Borisov. The scores 1:7 away and 5:0 at home speak for themselves. The matches against the Danish Lyngby also went well. In Copenhagen the victory was 1:2, at home 3:0.

In the 1/32 finals, despite the seeding of the Russian club, it went to the leader of the English Premier League, Leeds. In the first half of the English match, Lee Bowyer scores a brace. In the second half, Alan Smith, performing an overhead kick, first hits Pashinin in the head, then the ball. The referee counts the goal, and Pashinin is forced to leave the field. In the 80th minute, Loskov's goal gives hope for a successful outcome, but after 4 minutes Kewell sets the final score 4:1.

In the return match, Lokomotiv, which had nothing to lose, immediately picked up the pace and began to continuously attack the British. Leeds took advantage of the openings and earned a penalty on the counter-attack. 0:1 in the 15th minute, and the railway workers need to score 4 goals. In the 28th minute, Michael Bridges scored the team's second goal, and scored a double before the break. 0:3 in the return match.

6 years later, in the fall of 2005, ex-Leeds head coach O'Leary was on a visit to Moscow. Semin (at that time the coach of the Russian national team) conveyed greetings to him: “ Please tell my colleague: there is still no team as fast as his Leeds in the English Premier League».

UEFA Cup, 1/32 finals. 6 matches, 4-0-2, 18-9. 6 points were scored in the country's TC, 4 points in the club rating. In the season ranking, Lokomotiv is in 67th place, in the ranking of clubs with an indicator of 48.637 it dropped to 39th place.

2000/01. Second place in the Russian Championship allowed us to compete in the Champions League from the 3rd qualifying round. Turkish vice-champion Besiktas left no stone unturned against the Russian vice-champion: 3:0 in Istanbul and 1:3 in Moscow. Lokomotiv continued to play in the UEFA Cup.

In the 1/64 finals the Bulgarian "Neftokhimik" passed: 4:2 at home and 0:0 away. In the next round, two victories over Inter Bratislava: 1:0 at home and 1:2 away. The 1/16 round against the Spanish Rayo Vallecano turned out to be the last. A 0:0 draw was recorded on the frozen field of the Moscow stadium, while the Spaniards won 2:0 in Madrid.

Champions League, 3rd quarter. round, 2 matches, 0-0-2, 1-6. UEFA Cup, 1/16 finals, 6 matches, 3-2-1, 7-5. Total: 3-2-3, 8-11. 8 points scored. In the season ranking, 48th place, in the club ranking, 34th place with an indicator of 53.854.

2001/02. Third qualifying round of the Champions League, opponent Austrian Tyrol.

In the second minute, Lekheto opened the scoring, Kirkchler equalized the score in the 19th minute. Izmailov scores the winning goal, and Ignashevich’s free kick in the 79th minute makes the advantage more significant.

In the return match, Maminov scored the only goal from a free kick in the 51st minute. The Austrians filed a protest with the UEFA CDC. The fact is that in the 72nd minute the referee showed a yellow card to Pimenov, which turned out to be the striker’s second. But he entered Maminov’s last name into the notebook and did not delete anyone.

At first the situation did not seem so serious. Draws were held for the next rounds of European Cups; Lokomotiv clearly participated in the draw for the group stage of the Champions League (i.e., there were no reservations; it was not the winner of the pair that was indicated, but the Russian club), which received Real Madrid, Roma and “Anderlecht” (1st, 2nd and 4th pots, respectively), and “Tirol” took part in the UEFA Cup draw, which went to “Victoria” from Zizkov.

However, after 5 days a fax from UEFA arrived at the Lokomotiv office. His 9 points were devoted to a technical error by the referee, to the fact that Lokomotiv should have finished the match in the minority, and this is what prevented the Austrians from scoring 3 goals. The result of the match on August 22 (i.e., the return match) is canceled and a replay is ordered (you can read the full text of the document on the website of the Sport-Express newspaper). An appeal from the club, as well as a letter from the head of the RFU Koloskov (text), were sent to UEFA. True, the latter immediately warned that he did not expect a positive decision.

As a result, a replay took place, a full match, and not 19 minutes from the score 0:1, and Pimenov’s disqualification based on the results of the canceled match was left in force.

The replay became Nigmatullin's benefit performance, his exemplary match. He still missed one goal, but the Tyroleans were not happy with the 1:0 score.

As a result, the railway workers did not go on a visit to Zizkov, but for the first time in history made it to the group stage of the Champions League.

In the 1st round, Lokomotiv hosted Anderlecht. Semin let it slip before the match that a win would be good, but a draw would do for a debut. And so it happened: in the first half, the opponents exchanged goals, where they settled, the result was 1:1. In the 2nd round, Real completely outplayed the Russian club at the Santiago Bernabeu, finishing it off with a score of 4:0.

There were double matches ahead against the champion of Italy, and Lokomotiv should have learned lessons from the defeat. As a result, despite scoring 0 points, the Muscovites showed a different football and were close to winning points. In the Roman match, they opened the scoring, but did not maintain the advantage; in the return match, the only goal flew into the goal, not least because of a ricochet.

After the 4th round, Lokomotiv, with one point scored, lost its chances of reaching the Champions League playoffs, but could well compete with Anderlecht, which scored 2 points, for access to the UEFA Cup. True, the Brussels match did not start according to our scenario: in the 2nd minute Anderlecht took the lead. But Loko was not embarrassed, and not only won, but defeated the Belgian club in its own lair: 1:1 Izmailov 13′, 1:2 Sennikov 28′, 1:3 Pimenov 58′, 1:4 Buznikin 63′, 1 :5 Buznikin 69′.

In the last round, Real Madrid, which had reserved the first place ahead of schedule, came to Moscow, leaving a number of stars in Spain. 2:0 in favor of the Russian team, which goes to the 1/16 of the UEFA Cup.

In the UEFA Cup, Hapoel Tel Aviv. The first match took place in Israel. Ostertz opened the scoring, and Izmailov scored the return goal in the second half. In the 77th minute, Ostertz earned a penalty, Nigmatullin saved the team after a hit by regular penalty taker Gershon. The match was coming to an end with the score 1:1, which suited the railway workers, but in the 90th minute Hapoel scored the winning goal. After 2 minutes, Cherevchenko’s nerves could not stand it, and he received a straight red card for a flagrant foul in the middle of the field.

In the return match, Lokomotiv did not show their best game, and the same Ostertz scored the only goal in the match.

Champions League, 3rd place in the group stage. 8 matches, 3-1-4, 12-11. UEFA Cup, 1/16 finals. 2 matches, 0-0-2, 1-3. Total: 10 matches, 3-1-6, 13-14. 7 points were scored in the TC (one bonus), in the club rating 6 points. In the season ranking 62nd place, in the club ranking Lokomotiv took 32nd place with a score of 57.645.

The railway workers, despite an average performance (7 points), scored the maximum number of points among Russian clubs for the second time. In the club rankings, Lokomotiv is located behind the long-time European Cup leader Spartak.