Belyaev was operated in Rome.

Lokomotiv defender Maksim Belyaev was operated on Monday in Roman clinic "Villa Stuart" after he has been diagnosed an ACL tear. 

The operation was completed successfully and for the recovery period, Maksim is going to return in Moscow. He will be out for about 6 months. 

Five Lokomotiv 'legionaries' to National teams.

Lokomotiv players Vedran Corluka, Yan Durica, Vitaliy Denisov, Yan Tigorev and Dame N'Doye have been called by their National teams for September matches. 

Croatian defender Corluka will take part to the friendly match against Cyprus (September 4th) and to the EURO 2016 qualifying match v Malta (September 9th), which will be played in Croatia.

Slovakia National team of Yan Durica will also face Malta (September 4th), but in a friendly match, and on September 9th qualifying match v Ukraine.

Vitaliy Denisov will take part to the preparation of Uzbekistan: he will play home against Jordan and New Zeland, September 3rd and 8th respectively.

Belarus, in which Tigorev plays, will have a home friendly match v Tajikistan (September 4th) and will play away for EURO 2016 qualifications against Luxembourg (September 8th).

Finally, Dame N'Doye with Senegal National team will start the qualifications to Africa Cup. On September 5th they will play home v Egypt, while on 10th they will play in Botswana. In this group play also Tunisia. The final stage will played in Morocco by the first two in each group, plus the best third.

Leonid Kuchuk: "We lacked freshness".

Leonid Kuchuk in the post-game press-conference after the match against Kuban' (2-1) spoke about the condition of the players influenced by the Europa League preliminary round v Apollon.

- The match in Europa League against Apollon has certainly influenced the preparation of players. In Cyprus, we finished the match with nine player, we spent a lot of fatigue, plus flights and the travel... Kuban' were a bit better than us, we lacked freshness. The match hadn't the chance to play fastly. The final result depended also by some inattentions during the attacks, - Kuchuk said.

Kuban' Krasnodar - Lokomotiv 2-1.

Because the dense calendar of Lokomotiv, Leonid Kuchuk is forced constantly to a rotation. In this way, from the game in Kazan', there were five changes. 

For the first time in this season Ilya Abaev has substituted Guilherme. After the disqualify returned Vedran Corluka, out Nemanja Pejcinovic. In the midfielder there were Taras Mykhalyk with Yan Tigorev, who took the place of Dmitry Tarasov. On the left there was Alan Kasaev and not Maicon. As striker, finally, Dame N'Doye substituted Roman Pavlyuchenko. 

Although Loko started the match quite good, being the most of the time in attack, the first kick is for Kuban' with Popov, who dribbled Jan Durica, but Abaev was accurate. 

Loko answered on the left with Aleksander Samedov, who made a great cross for numer "59" Aleksey Miranchuk, who send the ball in Belenov hands.

A few minutes later, Loko were dangerous again: Samedov passed the ball to Roman Shishkin, who crossed on the other hand for Vitaliy Denisov. Unfortunately, the kick of right back hit the external of the net.

After a little break, Kuban' had a good chance, which was transformed in goal. Popov broke through the midfield, passed the ball to Melgarejo, who scored. 

The protagonist of the next opportunity is Aleksey Miranchuk. He received the ball from N'Doye, dribbled three defenders but didn't reach to beat Belenov.

Soon N'Doye made another assist, but the kick of Kasaev is good taken by Belenov. 

Five minutes before the finish of the first time, Kuban' earned a corner and reached to score again thanks to Sunjic. 

In the second half entered Manuel Fernandes, who substituted Mykhalyk.

Thanks to him 'Railroaders' started playing more offensive, but no one reached to create great chances.

Kuchuk tried also Maicon, who took the place of Samedov. 

In one of the fast attack, Loko earned a penalty thanks to Maicon. From the 11 metres, Fernandes scored.

Although on the 2-1 Leonid Kuchuk send on the pitch also Pavlyuchenko, out Aleksey Miranchuk, the most interesting action before the final whistle was the red card to Oliseh, who had an argument with Corluka. 

'Railroaders' tried until the end to draw, but Corluka missed also a goal on empty net. 

Loko lost the first game of the season and permitted to Kuban' get over in the ranking. 

Kuban' - Lokomotiv 2:1 (2:0)

Goals: Melgarejo, 26 (1:0). Sunjic, 40 (2:0). Fernandes - penalty, 76 (2:1). 

Kuban: Belenov, Xandao, Sunjic, Melgarejo (Khubulov, 78), Eshchenko, Bugaev, Rabiu, Ignatjev (Kulik, 65), Oliseh, Popov (Bucur, 90), Kaboré. 

Lokomotiv: Abaev, Corluka, Mykhalyk (Fernandes, 46), Durica, Denisov, Shishkin, Kasaev, Samedov (Maicon, 70), Tigorev, Aleksey Miranchuk (Pavlyuchenko, 78), N'Doye. 

Yellow cards: Rabiu, 54. Oliseh, 63. Xandao, 76. Popov, 81. Khubulov, 90. Corluka, 90. Belenov, 90. 

Red cards: Oliseh, 90. 

August 24th. Krasnodar. Kuban' Stadium.

Preview Kuban' Krasnodar - Lokomotiv.

 

КУБАНЬ // Локомотив

Sunday, August 24th 2014

(Kuban' Stadium, Krasnodar')

17.30 Kuban' Krasnodar - Lokomotiv Moscow

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Saint Petersburg).

Assistants: Nikolay Golubev (Saint Petersburg) and Igor' Demeshko (Khimki).

Sub assistants: ? (?) and ? (?).
Inspector: Yuriy Baskakov (Moscow).

Precedents

2004

Lokomotiv - Kuban' 3-0: 15' Khokhlov, 42' Sychev, 45' Loskov. 

Kuban' - Lokomotiv 2-1: 15' Ricardo Lago, 62' Ricardo Lago; 67' Khokhlov. 2007
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 0-0
Lokomotiv - Kuban' 2-3: 25' Sychev (rig.), 76' Dramane Traore; 39' Petkov, 66' Ushenin, 79' Ushenin. 2009
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 1-0: 90' Dramani. 
Lokomotiv - Kuban' 4-1: 69' Sychev, 71' Odemwingie, 73' Cocis, 87' Wagner; 62' Tlisov.
2011
Lokomotiv - Kuban' 2-1: 6' Maicon, 62' Ibricic; 83' Lacina Traore. 
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 0-1: 36' Caicedo.
2012
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 1-1: 74' Pizzelli; 62' Pavlyuchenko. 
Lokomotiv - Kuban' 0-1: 71' Bucur. 
2013
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 0-0

Lokomotiv - Kuban' 1-0: 49' Tarasov. 
Kuban' - Lokomotiv 1-3: 5' Maicon, 14' Corluka, 31' Boussoufa, 90' Cissè.

Lokomotiv:

Absents: Logashov (injured), Yanbaev (injured).
In doubt: Sheshukov (injured).

Rankings:

Kuban' Krasnodar: 6.

Lokomotiv: 7.

Streaming (available half an hour before the start of the match):
HERE.
-NTV Nash Futbol. Commentators: Aleksey Andronov.

Curiosities:

//.

___________________________________________________________________

After the away game against Apollon, Loko are waited for another transfer: in Krasnodar 'Railroaders' will face Kuban'.

Both red-greens and yellow-greens have 8 points. Kuban' won against Ufa and Amkar, and drew v Rostov and Mordoviya. 3 goal have been scored by Popov, who is probably the most representative player. 

After the disqualify, coach Goncharenko will have again Danilo, who missed the match v Mordoviya. Melgarejo, instead, who missed the first part of the season, has already returned playing last week. Eshchenko and Ignatjev, both on the right, will be the only two former players of the game.

Kuchuk, who challenge his compatriot Goncharenko, arrives from a difficult match in Cyprus. Corluka returns after the game at Kazan' Arena, while Yanbaev is still out. The Belarusian coach probably will make a sort of turnover, especially in sight of the return match of Europa League. Aleksey Miranchuk is a secure presence in Krasnodar, while Maicon and Tkachyov could give some rest to Kasaev and Samedov. Pavlyuchenko, instead, must still store his first goal in this RPL.

PROBABLE XI

Kuban' Krasnodar (4-2-3-1)

Belenov
Eshchenko - Xandao - Sunjic - Bugaev
Kulik - Kaboré

Ignatjev - Popov - Melgarejo
Danilo

--------------------------------------------------------------

Lokomotiv (4-2-3-1)

Guilherme

Shishkin -  Corluka - Durica - Denisov

Tigorev - Tarasov

Tkachyov - Aleksey Miranchuk - Maicon

Pavlyuchenko

Leonid Kuchuk: "The away goal worths a lot".

Leonid Kuchuk in the post-game press-conference after the match against Apollon (1-1) spoke about the difficult game and the effects of the red cards.

 - How much are you satisfied of the result, after seeing two different types of Lokmotiv?
- In the second half, for the first in my career, my team has played with nine players. A player is a great advantage and you can use him. But I'm happy that we scored. The away goal worths a lot. 

- What happen during the final in the second half? Was the team tired or did underestimate Apollon? 
- No, we knew the power of Apollon. Last year they eliminated French Nice and played decently in the group stage. This is a strong team, so we didn't underestimate our opponent. We played our 4th consecutive game in a row and we had to rotate the squad. Partially because the match became difficult for us. 

- How were decisive the red cards on the game? 
- Whatever red card influences the game and the play in general. We had also two forced changes: Alan Kasaev e Dmitriy Tarasov. Of course, this was important for us. About red cards, after the first we started playing more towards the area and so the defense suffered a lot of counterattacks. 

- Before yesterday, Lokomotiv was the favored. After the away match, what is the percentage for the second game?
- I can't say any sort of percentage. None has been decided yet. All will be decided in the return match in Moscow and we'll prepare for it as serious as the first game.

Apollon - Lokomotiv 1-1.

For the first game in Europa League, the two teams arrived in two different conditions. Loko have already played four games in RPL, while Apollon haven't started the season yet. 

Loko began the match well. On of the protagonists was Oumar Niasse, who in Cyprus debuted for the first time in the first XI. In one opportunity, Vedran Corluka passed the ball to the Senegalese striker, who tried a kick which wasn't dangerous. 

Another chance was for Tarasov, who hit the external of the net after an assist of  Alan Kasaev. 

Before 30', Loko improved again the stats. Manuel Fernandes and Aleksander Samedov were the protagonists, but nothing of special happened.

Although these chances, 'Railroaders' finished the first half with a goal scored. A few seconds before the whistle, in fact, Kasaev, on of the most active, dribbled easily two defenders and with a kick scored a beautiful goal.

The second half started with a change: Dame N'Doye substituted Niasse. Apollon answered with a dangerous attack of Meriem.

Meanwhile Loko continued playing an interesting game. In another chance, Vitaliy Denisov missed a great opportunity to score the 0-2 on a Kasaev cross. 

Two minutes later, for all Loko fans returned the episode happened in Kazan'. Papoulis stroke on the Tarasov foot and referee whistled the penalty. A few later, he spoke with his assistants and changed his decision with an easy free kick.

Loko continued attacking and some offsides were reported to N'Doye. 

15 minutes before the finish of the match, 'Railroaders' finished in a difficult situation: Yan Tigorev was sent off. 

Immediately the Cypriots club scored on counterattack with Guié. A pair of minutes later, also Denisov was sent off. 

Apollon, support by the fans, tried a final assault and until the final whistle they were close the second goal.

Loko started the adventure in Europa League heavily, but the goal scored away gives some hopes for the return game.

Apollon - Lokomotiv 1:1 (0:1) 

Goals: Kasaev, 39 (0:1). Guié, 80 (1:1). 

Apollon: Bruno Vale, Merkis, Robert, Stylianou (Mulder, 70), João Paulo, Vasiliou (Thuram, 79), Gullon, Meriem (Rezek, 69), Hamdani, Guié, Papoulis.

Lokomotiv: Guilherme, Shishkin, Corluka, Durica, Denisov, Tigorev, Tarasov (Mykhalyk, 65), Samedov, Fernandes, Kasaev (Maicon, 62), Niasse (N'Doye, 46). 

Yellow cards: Stylianou, 32. Merkis, 53. Denisov, 63. Maicon, 88. 

Red cards: Tigorev, 75. Denisov, 87.

Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO). 

August 21st. Nicosia. GSP Stadium.

Preview Apollon - Lokomotiv.

АПОЛЛОН // Локомотив

Thursday, August 21st 2014

(GSP Stadium, Nicosia)

19.30 Apollon Limassol - Lokomotiv Moscow

Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO).

Assistants: Tomislav Petrovic (CRO) and Miro Grgic (CRO).
Fourth official: Domagoj Vuckov (CRO).

UEFA Referee Observer: William Young (SCO).
UEFA Delegate: David McDowell (SVN).
Blog Referee Observer: Mike L. (AUT).

Precedents

No precedents in Europa League.

Lokomotiv:

Absents: Logashov (injured), Yanbaev (injured).
In doubt: Sheshukov (injured).

Rankings:

Apollon: //.

Lokomotiv: //.

Streaming (available half an hour before the start of the match):
HERE.
-NTV Nash Futbol. Commentators: Ilya Kazakov.

-Russia-2. Commentators: ?.

Curiosities:

//.

___________________________________________________________________

For the first time since 2012, the last time was against Athletic Bilbao, Loko play in an European competition. The opponents is Apollon Limassol.

The club from Cyprus can't host games in his stadium, which didn't pass UEFA licenses, and so the match will be played in Nicosia, at GSP Stadium.

Apollon started preparing the preliminary round on Monday after have seen the match between Rubin and Loko. Cypriots media said that the coach, Christakis Christoforou will play to finish the match without suffered goals, which can be useful in the away game. Especially because the absence of the best Apollon best player and vice-captain, Gaston Sangoy, who won't be due to a disqualification. In this way the key player becomes Camel Meriem, who will have to unite defence and attack. He's almost 35 years old and the player with more experience into the team. 9 players also have more than 30 years old.

Last season Apollon played in Europa League and were send off in a group with Lazio (ITA), Trabzonspor (TUR) and Legia (POL). A curiosity: last year Apollon won against Nice the preliminary round. Pejcinovic didn't play the two matches due to an injury.

Apollon have already played against a Russian side. It was in Europa League 2010/2011, when against Sibir' the Cypriots club lost in Novosibirsk 1-0 and won in Limassol 2-1. For the away goal, Sibir' was qualified. 

In Loko, instead, Corluka returns after the disqualification in RPL, while Abaev could finally debut in this new season. Tkachyov could substitute Maicon, with Fernandes back on N'Doye. 

PROBABLE XI

Apollon (4-2-3-1)

Bruno Vale
Mulder - Joao Paulo - Charalanbous - Vasiliou
Hamdani - Meriem

Rezek  - Papoulis - Robert
Guié

--------------------------------------------------------------

Lokomotiv (4-2-3-1)

Abaev

Shishkin -  Corluka - Durica - Denisov

Tigorev - Tarasov

Samedov - Fernandes - Tkachyov

N'Doye