LUZHNIKI STADIUM (CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, CSKA MOSCOW 1-0 REAL MADRID, ATTENDANCE: 71,811

After visiting Kaliningrad back in June, it was now time to rectify my mistake of only doing the one game during the World Cup. The Russian authorities are now allowing visa free entry until 31st December 2018 to holders of a fan-id from the tournament so when the respective European draws were made in August and the top 3 Moscow teams were all at home this week then the trip made absolute sense.

I landed Monday afternoon and, unlike the last time out, getting through the border was pretty quick though the young chap at the desk did look baffled with my answer to the question as to why I was visiting. I tried my best to explain the concept of “groundhopping”.

The aeroexpress train from Domodedovo airport to Moscow takes 45 minutes and terminates at Paveletskaya metro station which, as luck would have it, was only a 5 minute walk to my hotel. After checking in dusk was starting to fall so I walked into the city, via red square, to check out a couple of excellent beer bars, namely craft rePUBlic and Crafter Bar.

Tuesday morning/early afternoon was spent visiting the Kremlin. When in Moscow as they say. This of course created as groundhopping dilemma as at the same time CSKA were playing Madrid in the Youth League, so I could have visited another ground. In the end though I simply had to do the tourist stuff.

There was of course time for more beer, this time it was Jawsspot and Rule Taproom, before heading onto the metro to my first game of the week. The train though was not in the direction of the VEB Arena but the Luzhniki Stadium, as CSKA announced a couple of weeks before that all their Champions League games would be switched to the National Stadium. They also announced that tickets would be sold as a three game package, no surprise really given who was in their group.

A ticket stub from the game.

The ticket situation did give me cause for concern, especially after the tickets went on general sale and CSKA’s website would not allow me to purchase a ticket with a non-Russian credit card. In the end, and very reluctantly, I went down the Viagogo route and purchased a ticket through their website. If I had held my nerve, it turned out, there were plenty of tickets available on the day as the game wasn’t a sell out.

Of course the stadium is still fresh from hosting the FIFA World Cup Final, where France beat Croatia 4-2 to lift the trophy for the second time in their history.

The stadium was built between 1955 and 56 as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. As you enter the stadium from the metro, a statue of Lenin looks dominates you walk towards the turnstiles. The stadium was the main venue for the 1980 Summer Olympics.

In 1982 it was the scene of one of the worst football disasters when 66 fans lost their lives in a crush as fans raced for the exit at the end of a UEFA cup tie between Spartak and Haarlem. The official figure was 66 but several subsequent investigations and eyewitness reports put the death toll closer to 350, which would make it the worst disaster in the history of world football.

In 1992, the stadium was renamed Luzhniki Stadium. The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River where the stadium was built, translating roughly as "The Meadows". An extensive renovation in 1996 saw the construction of a roof over the stands, and the refurbishment of the seating areas, resulting in a decrease in capacity.

In 2008 the Luzhniki Stadium hosted the first all English Champions League Final, which was won by Manchester United, who beat Chelsea on penalties, John Terry’s famous slip in the shoot out being the decisive moment.

The original stadium was demolished in 2013 ready for the construction of a new stadium. However the cover was retained along with the facade wall, such is it’s iconic architectural status. The athletics track was removed to increase the capacity to 81,000.

CSKA were founded in 1911 and are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Russia, winning 7 Soviet Union titles and 6 Russian Premier titles to date, the most recent in 2016.  CSKA was the official team of the Soviet Army during the communist era but since the collapse of the Soviet Union it became privately owned, with the Ministry of Defence as a shareholder. 

After finishing off my beers,  I caught the redline metro to the stop to Sportivnaya and joined the throbbing hordes heading to the ground. The walk took about 5 minutes from the station. Naturally after purchasing a ticket through a third party I was a little apprehensive but there were no problems entering the ground and I took my seat to watch CSKA take on the current Champions League, err, champions Real Madrid.

As you could well have expected, Madrid dominated the game in terms of the possession and shots at goal, the match statistics backing up this fact. This was despite missing the likes of Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric who started on the bench.

The decisive moment came after just 90 seconds when an attempted back from Toni Kroos was intercepted by Nikola Vlasic, who cut in on his left foot to slide the ball past Keylor Navas in the Madrid goal. Vlasic is of course on loan from Everton where the Croatian is deemed surplus to requirements.

CSKA withheld constant pressure from the Spaniards, who hit the woodwork twice, to hold on for the win but there was a bizarre moment in the final seconds of the game when Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who recently announced his retirement from international football, received a red card after two yellow cards in a matter of seconds both for dissent.

A famous night for CSKA and also a great night personally after visiting one of the world’s great grounds. A perfect start to my three days of Pусский футбол!