Silence the fans with a powerful defeat: Cherchesov enters Champions League group

With two minutes remaining in regular time, Stanislav Cherchesov watched the match nervously from the coaching chair. On the count, his “Ferencváros” was ahead, but that was only enough to transfer the meeting to overtime. However, in the final seconds, the Hungarian champion scored two goals and ensured our coach’s progress to the group stage of the European Cup.

Ferencváros fans were overjoyed after a landslide victory over Slovan in the Champions League second qualifying round. Cherchesov’s team, which was on the verge of relegation a week ago, was subjected to great criticism.

In the first match, the Hungarians unexpectedly lost to Slovan at home with a score of 1:2. The situation would have been even worse had the away goals rule still applied. Cherchesov was invited to Ferencvaros not for a successful performance in Hungarian tournaments. When Stanislav Salamovich arrived, the club was in a leading position and was the defending champion of the country. For this reason, success was expected from the “field commander” in European competitions.

The defeat of “Slovakia” allowed the coach to fulfill the minimal plan. Now Ferencváros will definitely play in the group stage of the European Cup. It remains only to find out one thing – what will this tournament be called. The Hungarian champion will at least be able to play in the Conferences League group. If Cherchesov’s team wins one of the two summer stages, they will be in the Europa League, and if they win both, they will be in the Champions League.

Cherchesov can certainly count on a more impressive tournament than the Conference League. “Ferencváros”‘s next opponent in the Champions League qualifiers will be Azerbaijani “Karabakh”. According to Transfermarkt, the composition of the Hungarian club is three times more expensive, so Cherchesov’s team will definitely be the favorite of the upcoming match.

On the way to the Champions League group in the final qualifying round, our coach may face a much more serious opponent than his previous opponents. In the playoff stage, the Danish “Copenhagen” and the Turkish “Trabzonspor” will be added to the path of the champions, who are clearly stronger than “Slovak” and “Karabakh”. However, the grid will allow Cherchesov’s team to avoid clashes with clubs from the top 5 championships before the group stage.

Ferencváros have been promoted to the Champions League twice in their history. And I last did that in the 2020/21 season. He then took part in a foursome with the Hungarians, Juventus, Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv and finished last with one point.

Cherchesov himself had never before reached the group stage of the main club tournament in Europe as a coach. He stumbled twice in qualifying with Spartak and lost to Celtic and Dynamo Kyiv. The Ukrainians’ defeat at home often cost him his position, as his expulsion from Spartak was after Kiev’s defeat by a score of 1:4.

Now Stanislav Salamovich finally has a chance to get into the coveted group and become the only Russian coach in the main stage of the Champions League this season.