Porto get Aiden McGeady warning
Spartak Moscow travel to Portugal on the back of a disastrous start to the Russian season set against progressing past Basel and Ajax in the Europa League.
Previewing the match for the Portugoal website McGeady was singled out by Russian football expert James Appell as the Spartak danger man.
He said: “Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady really stands out. He’s been brilliant since he moved to Russia – so much so that after only three months in Russia he was named among the country’s top 33 players of last season. McGeady is something of a dying breed – the dribbling winger – but that makes him all the more watchable.
“And unlike many of the Stanley Matthews wannabes in the game, he tends to produce an end product too. On the opposite wing to McGeady is Dmitry Kombarov, another tricky winger. I would suggest keeping an eye on him but unfortunately that can prove tricky, as he often plays in the Spartak team alongside his identical twin brother Kirill…good luck to all trying to tell them apart.
“Discussing Spartak’s form Appell admitted: “Frankly they’ve been appalling. Their opening game away to Rostov was absolutely shambolic. They lost 4-0, and looked terrible defensively.
“Likewise in their game this weekend, they faced newly-promoted Kuban and went down 3-1 after another amateurish defensive display.
“At least part of the explanation must come down to coach Valery Karpin saving some players for the game in Oporto, but even with that in mind the nature of the defeats have surprised everyone in Russia.”
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Reaching the Europa League final in Dublin is the target for McGeady and Spartak after being knocked out of the Champions League by Marseilles with Appell delivering a telling assessment of their European form this season.
He added: “Spartak qualified for this season’s Champions League after finishing the previous Russian Premier League season in second place. They were drawn in a group alongside Chelsea, Marseille and Zilina, and all looked to be going to plan after beating Marseille – albeit slightly fortuitously – away from home.
“The wheels started to come off after they were thrashed 4-1 at Stamford Bridge in their fourth group match, but that still meant that a home win over Marseille in the penultimate game would guarantee their passage into the knockout rounds. Instead, a tactically naïve performance saw Spartak go down 3-0 at Luzhniki and they dropped into the Europa League.
“In the Round of 32 Spartak pulled off a thrilling 3-2 comeback win against FC Basel in Switzerland, then held on for a 1-1 draw in the return fixture to progress to a tie with Ajax.
“Again, they managed a fortunate 1-0 win in Amsterdam – only, unlike against Marseille, they produced a vintage performance in the home leg. Their 3-0 win against Ajax was one of the best European performances I’ve seen by a Russian side, which (leaving aside their atrocious performances in the league this season) bodes well for the quarter-final against Porto.”
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