Wednesday’s encounter between Zilina and Spartak Moscow is one of only two totally meaningless matches of the final evening of Champions League group stage football for 2010, and both come in Group F. The Slovakians are out of touch with the Russians, who in turn cannot overhaul Olympique de Marseille to claim second spot.
For the home team, there is a great deal of pride at stake. A whitewash is on the cards, but they also have the opportunity to pick up their first group stage point ever. Pavel Hapal’s side nearly did that a fortnight ago against a much-changed Chelsea side at Stamford Bridge, but despite taking the lead through Babatounde Bello they would go down 2-1, with Florent Malouda scoring a very late winner.
Not all of Zilina’s memories of the competition this season have been so uplifting, particularly at home, where they’ve already conceded 11 goals in their previous two fixtures. A 4-1 defeat against the Blues was an ominous welcome to the elite level of football, though it was positively kind compared to the 7-0 lesson OM would give the Slovaks in November.
The money earned from this foray will be useful for the club, while the matches played will have given the staff valuable experience. If the Sosoni could finish the campaign with a draw, or perhaps even a win, they would be stood in great stead for the remainder of their domestic season, which is set up well as they lead the standings by six points.
Nearly Holiday Time
Spartak Moscow will round their 2010 season off with this encounter against Zilina, though frustratingly for Valery Karpin’s side the match will have little more importance than a high-profile friendly as the Meat are already eliminated from the top tier and have dropped into the Europa League.
A fortnight ago at the Luzhniki Stadium, Spartak hosted Olympique de Marseille in what was effectively a knock-out tie. The Russians went into the game in a commanding position but failed to match the energy of the home support as they were thoroughly outplayed and crashed to a 3-0 loss. Due to the mathematics of the competition, that defeat rendered the Russians eliminated and forced to travel to Slovakia with nothing at stake.
Of further disappointment to Russia’s most successful club since the break-up of the USSR is the fact that they won’t ply their trade at the top level next season either. They finished only fourth in the RPL, meaning that the Europa League beckons next summer.
It’s been a frustrating autumn for the capital side, who probably can’t wait to finally put this campaign to bed and rest over the cold winter months. Wednesday’s game may therefore be seen as something of an inconvenience, despite the recent excitement raised by the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.
TEAM NEWS
Zilina
Patrik Mraz was the only injury problem for Zilina previously, but he has recovered from his thigh problem.
Spartak
Kirill Kombarov, Andrei Ivanov and Martin Stranzl are all back involved in the first team after a pick and mix of injuries. Sergei Parshivlyuk is out due to knee ligament problems, while Ari and Nicolas Pareja are out. Alex is involved, though.
Welliton is suspended.
Prediction
MSK Zilina 1-1 Spartak 
