Is there a chance that Malcom and Claudinho will be able to play against Akhmat and Chelsea?
The club is dealing with this issue and our staff are in touch with the relevant governing bodies. There is a chance, but at the moment FIFA say they cannot play.
What do you think about this decision?
What can I think? This is an absolutely absurd situation, down to coronavirus restrictions. It’s not good when a club cannot use three of their top players in both the league and the Champions League. This is a strange decision from all of the footballing authorities.
Will Wilmar Barrios also miss the matches against Akhmat and Chelsea?
How can he take part? Of course he is out, unless there are some changes to these decisions.
Do you have any ideas who can replace the missing players?
Not yet. The players have returned from international duty only today, now they need to be tested and then we will see how many players we have, 13 or 14 are getting ready for the matches. We’ll see who’s more prepared for each of those games, only then will we decide.
Several La Liga matches in Spain have been postponed for a number of days due to the late return of South American players. Did Zenit ask for a postponement for the Akhmat match?
We don’t have the opportunity to do that. We can only move anything to one date in December, and we don’t know what will happen after the next international games. We might even have a similar situation, so we don’t have the option to move things.
Dmitry Chistyakov left the national set-up due to injury. How is he now? Will he be available for the match with Akhmat?
We hope he will be available. He has been training on an individual basis and the injury is better. Today he is partially in full training and we hope he will be available for us for at least part of the match.
What thoughts do you have about Akhmat after their six games this season?
Everyone is well aware of the strengths of their team. Akhmat are a strong and well-trained side and they have some good players. They’ve looked very confident in all the games this season and play attacking, quick football. They don’t have any major issues and we’re expecting a very difficult match, plus games after the international break are always difficult. .
Is everyone now back excluding Barrios?
Yes, but only today. Barrios has not arrived yet, but everyone else is here.
Has the uncertainty about the venue of the match with Chelsea made things more difficult for you?
No, I hasn’t. The situation as to where the game will take place has been very clear to me, the governing bodies abdicated themselves of their responsibilities and left it up to the host clubs or the local authorities to deal with it. During the course of this competition we’ll probably see more surprises, matches moved to neutral venues or the non-acceptance of certain vaccines by the host countries. It all depends on various health rules and it is impossible to guess what will happen in this competition, anything is possible and that's why I’m not focusing on it too much.
Is it possible we’ll see Stanislav Kritciuk in the starting lineup against Akhmat? Will he at least be in the squad?
Let's see. We have time to look at everything. Stanislav has the same chances to be in the starting XI as everyone else.
