Friendly match against Russian opponents

On Thursday, which is the last day of the training camp in Austria, our team will play against FK Rostov, the ninth-placed team in the Russian top division, behind closed doors at 18:00.

Our opponent was founded in 1930, and in the first decades of the club's existence, it struggled in the Soviet lower leagues, with many name changes. The club first made it to the Soviet first division in 1964, but in the 1970s found itself back in the lower divisions.

The recent past has brought much more success for Rostov fans, with the team having been in the Russian top flight for all but two seasons since 1992 and winning the Russian Cup in 2014. The club's best result came in the 2015/2016 season when it won the silver medal. The league success was followed by international success, as the Russian side finished third in Group D of the 2016/2017 Champions League, ahead of PSV Eindhoven, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid, and went on to the Europa League, where they were only beaten in the last 32 by eventual winners Manchester United. 

Thursday's opponents also finished fifth in the 2019/2020 season in the Russian league, but the Russian side nicknamed Muzhiki were knocked out of the EL straight away by Maccabi Haifa of Israel. Last season, the team finished in 9th place.

The total value of FK Rostov's squad is almost €47 million. 25-year-old Norwegian midfielder Mathias Normann is worth an estimated €13 million, making him by far the most valuable player in the Russian club. The squad also includes players from Sweden, Japan, Armenia, Gambia and Belarus, as well as Russian players. Four years ago we met FK Rostov here in Austria in a pre-season match, when we won 1-0 with Scepovic's header.