The Russian tactician defends the Koni goalkeeper, Sergei Chepchugov, in the UEFA Champions League return leg against the Copa del Rey winners at Santiago Bernabeu
The UEFA Cup 2005 winners crashed out of the UEFA Champions League after suffering a humiliating 5-2 aggregate defeat against Real Madrid in the round-of-16.
Los Blancos deservedly won the return leg 4-1 against CSKA Moscow at Santiago Bernabeu before claiming a 1-1 draw during the first leg of the continental tournament at Luzhniki stadium.
Though the Moscow-based club started the European encounter aggressively, they failed to stop the Spanish giants from taking the lead before half time. The crunch European tie was very much in balance until the first half. However,
the hosts scored thrice in the second half. Zoran Tosic could only muster a consolation for the visitors.
Jose Mourinho’s men romped past the Russian outfit to reach the quarter-finals of the European tournament.
CSKA head coach, Leonid Slutsky, has lamented the latest European defeat and defended his decision to start with their reserve goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergei-Chepchugov-c32954, during the mouth-watering tie on the away turf.
Slutsky preferred to start the European tie with Chepchugov instead of their injured goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Igor-Akinfeev-c16676. Akinfeev had suffered a shoulder injury during the second Russian Premier League round and is on road to recovery.
The former Uralan Elista manager specified the reason behind his selection, revealing Akinfeev is still recovering from the strain and he does not want to risk aggravating the injury by bringing the 25-year-old back earlier than
expected.
"In order to achieve the desired result, we had to play attacking football with no errors. In the first half we played a systemic right, counter-attacked but I think we still made mistakes by giving chances to the opponent.
“I would not like to blame Chepchugov for the latest defeat. He needs support from the fans, as he played well during the first leg and today. Some of our experienced players committed mistakes today.” The Russian Cup winner was
quoted as saying.
Speaking on his decision to substitute http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Evgeni-Aldonin-c13028 with Pavel Mamayev during the second period, Slutsky revealed that he introduced Mamayev because his side was struggling in attack.
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