Krasnodar had their worst league campaign in many years with all going wrong for the Bulls past the winter break as up until round 20 they were even seen as potential title-contenders.
Bad luck with many injury issues all season hardly helped. They also found it hard to balance domestic football with their first ever Champions League group stage appearance. In small consolation Krasnodar became the only Russian team to reach the knockouts in Europe, although they left Europa League much earlier than wanted.
The first 20 rounds were decent enough to keep Krasnodar inside the top 5 with strong end to the calendar year, 4 wins in 5, giving the Bulls hope that in 2021 they could even mount a challenge on the title.
However, more injury problems during the winter months meant that for 27 of the 30 rounds at least 1 of the 2 main full-backs was missing and Krasnodar’s defending was their major weakness all season.
Awful start to 2021 ruined the entire campaign with Krasnodar losing 6 of their first 8 games after the winter break to exit Europe, the Russian Cup and also to lose ground on the top 6 in the league.
When 0:5 home loss was suffered vs. Akhmat in early April coach Musaev was sacked and the ex-CSKA manager Goncharenko took his place. By that point the Bulls were already out of the race for Europe though and the new manager simply started building his squad for next season from early.
The 2 most consistent players throughout the campaign were top scorer Berg and main playmaker Gazinskiy. Everyone else had up and down periods, with even the usually reliable goalie Safonov showing poor form after his injury in March.
Goncharenko’s main job in the summer will be to find new main striker as both veterans Berg and Ari left. If that is sorted Krasnodar could be major players next season, especially without having to get distracted by Europe.
