MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Players of Russia’s Lokomotiv football club are in a positive mood ahead of their UEFA Champions League group stage match against Turkish FC Galatasaray in Moscow on Wednesday, Yury Syomin, the head coach of Lokomotiv FC, told journalists.
Lokomotiv Moscow FC is currently in the cellar of its Group D with no points at all after losing all four of its previous matches as well as losing all chances either to advance to the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
"We have asked the RFU [the Russian Football Union] and the RPL [the Russian Premier League] to shift one of our national tournament’s fixtures to a reserve date, but it did not happen, and it means that we are playing in line with the schedule," Syomin said. "We have a very tight schedule, which includes four matches in nine days, but we will be in a good shape tomorrow as I believe that our conditions are not bad."
"Our team’s roster has almost no injured players and each footballer has a chance to hit the field," the coach said. "The only thing I can say is that there will be an intense rotation of players in the matches to come."
Lokomotiv Moscow FC’s attacking midfielder Manuel Fernandes skipped two previous matches of the club as part of the national championship, but, according to Syomin he had been training with the team for tomorrow’s match.
"Fernandes suffered earlier a minor injury, but he is one of the main players on our squad and he had been preparing for tomorrow’s game," Syomin said.
Commenting on the club’s bottom-line spot in Group D with zero points and having no chances at all to advance further, Syomin said "there is no time for us to be grieving and the team is in the positive mood."
Lokomotiv FC suffered four defeats in a row during the Champions League’s group stage, losing to Turkey’s Galatasaray (0-3, away), Germany’s Schalke (0-1, at home), Porto (1-3, at home) and then to Porto again (1-4, away).
Portugal’s Porto FC currently tops Group D with 10 points and is scheduled to take on Germany’s Schalke on November 28. The Portuguese club is followed in Group D by Schalke (8 points), Galatasaray (4 points) and Lokomotiv (0 points).
Top two teams in the group will proceed to the playoffs stage, while the third-placed club will be relegated to the Round of Last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.