OREANDA-NEWS. The Football Champions League starts the group stage. Three Russian clubs will play in the main European tournament this season - Zenit, Lokomotiv and Krasnodar. For footballers from Krasnodar it will be the debut at such a high stage of the continental competition. They will start the competition in Group E with a match against the French Rennes.

Frankly, “Krasnodar” in their group is an evident outsider. Even if we compare the spending of the four participating clubs on transfers before the start in the Champions League, then Krasnodar also closes the quartet with a modest figure of 3.3 million euros.

However, the fourth position of the club also has its advantages: if he loses, no one will be particularly surprised, but any, even small, success will have a positive effect on the status of an outsider. And, by the way, “Rennes” is exactly the rival with whom it makes sense for Krasnodar to fight.

True, Krasnodar started the season well in the French top division, currently occupying the 3rd place in the table. Nevertheless, “Krasnodar” is among the leaders of Russian clubs, so this club definitely has a chance to win in the fight against the French.

True, the absence of coach Murad Musaev, who fell ill with a sore throat, may affect the game of Krasnodar. However, this circumstance should not hinder real footballers.