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The Spartak-95 senior coach Andrei Piatnitski summed up the results of the International tournament dedicated to the club’s 90th anniversary during the interview.

— Speaking of our final place in the standings I must admit that it is a disappointment. We could have scored higher in certain circumstances. This tournament gave us a good international experience; we faced the teams with various football-playing styles. And that is the reason why it was quite difficult to readjust. Guys were able to compare their level with the level of other European teams and realized that we still have a lot to improve.

— Which game of your team during this tournament are you most satisfied with?
— The one with Barcelona of course, during which my team was able to achieve their task. Mainly in the defense. This particular game instilled optimism – our team was able to cope with Barcelona tactics.

— Was the team able to cope with the pressure they faced? They had to participate in the tournament dedicated to quite a significant event, the anniversary of the club. Was the fans’ support any help?
— The guys worried of course, it was obvious. No wonder - it was the tournament dedicated to the club’s 90th anniversary. Lots of fans came to support us during the match with Barcelona and it was inspiring naturally, it pushed the players to perform better. And much due to this support from the spectators the team was able to face quite a strong rival properly. Speaking of the other games I should say that it’s mostly this high pressure to be blamed for the lack of composure, though some quite promising moments during these games occurred. 

— The team was able to shoot just one goal for the whole tournament…

— They scored just one in the course of five games, yes, besides it was kicked by defender. Naturally the lack of Denis Davydov was obvious, he is really a creative forward, while the others in our team have quite a similar game style. They moved into back open space a lot but when they gathered the ball they also passed it back and thus we played without front attacker

— What happened to your team in the final game? Barcelona won by miles then. Lots of fans hoped that your guys will "slam the door" so to say…
— This is exactly the thing I tried and failed to convince them to do. They knew they would fight either for 5th of for 6th place, they were depressed, besides their physical condition left much to be desired. Unlike other teams we were unable to make subs freely, since lots of our reserve squad had missed more than month worth of practice due to various traumas and they were not ready to participate in such tense matches. As I said, the guys were not ignited any more. And during the break when the score was 0:3 I already saw hopelessness in their eyes. That’s why in spite of my own rule not to make more than two subs I made four of them.

— Maybe you would like to mention some players now, when the tournament is over? 

— I’d like to mention the players born in 1996. They were my particular concern because of all this tension before the tournament. And I was pleasantly surprised by them: they didn’t merge into the background and played quite well. And they mostly hold the credit for our good performance during the first four matches.

 — The tournament is over. What are you and the team planning for the future?

— The main priority now is to help the guys in overcoming their stupor and then we’ll continue practicing and getting ready for the Russian Cup. We’ll try to pour more emotion into our practice routine. And speaking about the team’s potential – we have to improve our tactics and we will work on it.