SPARTAK MOSCOW (Spartak Stadium)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, SPARTAK MOSCOW 3-3 VILLARREAL, ATTENDANCE: 21,264

For my final full day in Moscow my attention switched from the Champions League to the Europa League as Spartak Moscow welcomed La Liga side Villarreal to the Spartak Stadium.

I spent the day exploring Moscow on foot. Inspired by The Scorpions (ahem) I followed the Moskva down to Gorky Park. The only wind in the air though was a cold chill coupled with rain showers. The Park was very serene in early October but I guess it was buzzing in the summer months and during the World Cup. 

I eventually found myself pitching up a bar called 'Eric the Red' on the famous Stary Arbat. Given the name I did wonder to myself as to whether there was a Cantona/Manchester United connection somewhere?

Spartak Moscow are the most successful Russian team in history with 12 Soviet titles and 10 Russian titles. Nine of their Russian titles were won in succession from 1992 to 2001 but their tenth never arrived until 2017.

Having been founded in 1922 the club were initially backed by a trade union (the food workers) are considered to be 'the people's team' of Moscow. As a result of the trade union links the club also has the unusual nickname of Myaso (meat).

Despite Spartak's status in Russian football they never actually had a stadium to call home until 2014. The club played "home" games at Moscow's Dynamo, Luzhniki and Lokomotiv stadiums, at the Khimki Arena just outside Moscow and even as far away as Ekaterinburg.

In spring 2010, on the site of a former airfield in the district of Tushino, the ground was broke as Spartak began building a 45,000 all seater stadium to call its own. There is a huge statue of Spartacus (pictured left) as you approach the stadium and there is another statue inside the ground, behind the goal, of Spartak's founders the Starostin brothers but the zoom on my camera could not get a suitable picture.

For a new ground I think it is brilliant. You are right on the action and the views are excellent. The atmosphere was very good, despite the attendance tonight.

The venue hosted its first match on 5 September 2014, when Spartak drew 1-1 with Red Star Belgrade. The ground hosted five games during the 2018 FIFA World Cup including England's penalty shoot out win over Colombia in the round of 16.

The stadium is known as the Otkritie Arena for sponsorship purposes. The stadium is easily reached from Moscow city centre as it has it's own metro stop, Spartak, on the purple line.

As seems to be case across the continent when it comes to the Europa League, apathy seems to be the winner and the ground wasn't even half full. It didn't help the attendance that there were just a handful of Spanish supporters in the away end. The fans that did stay away though missed an absolute cracker.

A great game at the Otkritie Arena ended all square courtesy of a 96th minute penalty from ex-Arsenal player Santi Carzola, who scored his first goal in two years after a nightmare spell out with injury. 

There were plenty of chances for both teams but in the end there were only the six goals between the sides! Karl Toko Ekambi opened the scoring after 13 minutes when he burst into the area then cut back on his right foot and fired a shot into the top right corner of the goal.

Spartak were level after 34 minutes when Zé Luís converted a penalty kick after a handball by Nicola Sansone. After 49 minutes Pablo Fornals restored Villarreal's lead when the ball broke kindly to him and he fired home from inside the area.

The home side had a goal disallowed and hit the woodwork before Zé Luís (82) headed home an equaliser. The stadium erupted three minutes later when, after the ball came back off the post, Lorenzo Melgarejo (85) was on hand to fire home for what the home crowd thought would be the winning goal.

The fourth official signalled 6 minutes of stoppage time and in the final minute former Evertonian Ramiro Funes Mori was hauled down in the box allowing Carzola to make his vital intervention (pictured right).

So that brought an end to my trip to Moscow and I have to say it was thoroughly enjoyable and I never had any trouble. Just like any other tourist city you could say. Until next time прощай и спасибо!

Cheers Moscow! 

LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW (Lokomotiv Stadium)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE,
LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW 0-1 SCHALKE 04, ATTENDANCE: 21,471

Wednesday was a dedicated football day involving a double header and plenty of beer. What could possibly go wrong?

First port of call though was a visit to Lenin's mausoleum. The former Soviet leader's embalmed body has been on display since his death in 1924. There were plenty of people queueing and it took 40 minutes before I finally entered the tomb. It was a surreal experience.

From there I headed on the red-line metro from Okhotny Ryad but today it was in the opposite direction to the Luzhniki Stadium. Cherkizovskaya is the nearest stop to the Lokomotiv Stadium though my first game of the day was at the adjacent Sapsan Arena, which is also home to Lokomotiv's farm club FC Kazanka, who play in the third tier of Russian football.

The game was the respective youth fixture between Lokomotiv and Schalke. Entrance was free but there was no paper available. The match somehow finished goalless, as the Germans squandered numerous chances. It was an entertaining game to watch nonetheless.

The weather was appalling today as the rain lashed down. It didn't help that the roof in the small section of the stand that you were allowed to sit in was leaking so some of the available seats were drenched. I just about managed to keep myself dry. 

After the youth game, I had about 3 hours to kill, so I Headed back into town for a few light ales before the main event. The main event in question tonight was the Russian Champions Lokomotiv Moscow against German giants Schalke 04. 

the RULE Taproom. a welcome revisit.

The famous Lokomotiv train outside the RZD Arena

Lokomotiv were famously described as Moscow's fifth wheel as, during the Soviet era, Dynamo, Spartak, CSKA and Torpedo all won the Soviet title, the Railwaymen never did better than a second-placed finish and a couple of cup wins.

Lokomotiv were originally founded in 1922 as Kazanka Moscow, where they brought together the best footballing railway workers. In 1936 the club changed their name to Lokomotiv and won the Soviet Cup.

In the post soviet era though Lokomotiv have been a major force winning the  Russian Premier League in 2002, 2004 and 2018 as well as the Russian Cup in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2015 and 2017. The majority of this success has been under the management of Yuri Semin, who returned to the coach the team in 2016 after initially being in charge from 1986 to 1990 and then 1992 to 2005. The club is also backed financially by RZD (hence the sponsored name of the stadium) which is a subsidiary company of the Russian state railway.

The Lokomotiv Stadium was built between 2000 and 2002 and is on the site of the original Stalinest Stadium which was opened in 1935. The ground missed out on selection for the World Cup due to not meeting FIFA's capacity criteria as it only holds 28,000. I say only holds 28,000 but that is more than enough for Lokomotiv's needs as in 2017/18 their average gate was around 12,500.

There were no problems obtaining a ticket for tonight's game as they were easily available online and printed at home.

The game though was an absolutely turgid affair. In mitigation the rain that had battered the capital all day didn't let up during the game and it meant that English referee Anthony Taylor had a pretty easy night.

Weston McKennie, whose name sounds like he is from Scotland but is actually an American from Texas, headed home in the 88th minute to give 'Die Königsblauen' the victory. The German fans in the corner celebrated as Schalke got their first win in this seasons Champions League but for Lokomotiv that is two defeats in their opening two games.

After sitting through that game I was in desperate need of another beer and fortunately Parka, not far from my hotel, was on hand to see me well into the wee small hours. Yра!