André Villas-Boas: Today the opponent was just stronger

Zenit website published their Head coach interview on the defeat to Locomotive, the problems at the beginning of the second half and the challenges that blue-white-sky blues face because of the limit on foreign players.

What’s the difference between a great team performance in the Champions League, and this performance in the Russian league?

Yes, the problem really is this way, we are doing really well in the Champions League, but in Russia we are facing difficulties. Sometimes they are caused by our own mistakes, for which we are responsible, for example, as in the match with Amkar, Mordovia and Krylia. We lacked efficiency in attack on the road against Kuban. At the same time the opposition today was just better. But there is a problem with the limit, which also does not help us. Perhaps we are the only ones who it hurts, including Lokomotiv. Today Corluka was injured, but if he was fit, they would also have a problem with the rule. When the rules were changed in week one, we couldn’t prepare for the new situation and it's very frustrating. Today we could have made a good return to fight for the title, but now the situation has become more complicated. Perhaps we will have to focus on the Champions League and the Cup of Russia, but will do everything possible to successfully perform in the championship.

Why were Zenit so unconvincingly at the beginning of the second half?

I think the first half of the game was not the best for us or for Lokomotiv. In the second half they counterattacked, twice we lost them, but we were prepared for such situations. In the case of the first goal, we were somewhat unlucky, in the case of the second, we gave them the space to attack and the goals came one after the other, we failed to respond and come back when the score was 0-1. Lokomotiv were also good, they counterattacked with Niasse upfront and we had a problem. Of course, we were looking for opportunities to score and get back, but failed to do so. So I can’t say this was a good game for Zenit. 

Before the match with the Lyon one of the Zenit veterans, Alexei Strepetov said that perhaps the team is faced with a problem because of the different self-serving in the Champions League, where players know the world is watching and in the Russian championship. You blame the limit, but maybe in the case of motivation?

No, I think in the championship we have a problem with motivation, just because we are champions and it's a specific situation. The problem is that we are made up of a lot of foreigners, and the competition rules were changed one week before the start, it was impossible to be prepared. If you are a sane person imagine that the UEFA Cup or Champions League decided to change the rules or Euro 2016 or the World Cup? Nowhere in the world would this happen. Here there is one person who can make any decisions for everyone. When I came here, do you remember that Mr. Mutko advised me to respect the rules and culture of the country in which you work, so when I came in March 2013, changes in the rules were discussed, but in November we all knew what would happen in the new season. Everyone was aware, all agreed. And then they changed in a week. This championship of Mutko, Zenit cannot play well in the championship. There are other situations. For example, decisions of the the refs. We saw a mistake by the referee Ivanov with the penalty. After that game, I went to the ref’s dressing room, but the judge did not admit his mistake and not only that, it was not recognized by the FIFA referee’s inspector. It turns out that the ref made a mistake, and then the inspector put his highest score! But this is a mistake, which affected the outcome of the game. Of course, all this does not make our life easier. Last season we were struggling in the league, but did not play as well in the Champions League. Now the situation has changed.