Rubin Kazan vs FC Twente Preview

Posted Thursday, February 17, 2011 by ESPN

Rubin Kazan will get a freezing cold taste of things to come when they face FC Twente at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Rubin have been forced to switch the Europa League last-16 first leg to Moscow to make use of the Luzhniki artificial pitch, and they are due to kick off at 3pm local time in a bid to combat a cold snap in the Russian capital.

Even so the match remains in doubt after the visitors refused a request to switch the legs around and play in Holland on Thursday.

It is a situation Rubin, and other clubs in Russia, may become familiar with as the Premier Liga prepares to switch to a winter season in line with the rest of Europe.

"I hope the leaders of Russian football will draw some conclusions from this story," coach Kurban Berdyev said.

"We need to have a licensed stadium in the south, so that such problems do not occur in the future.

"In particular, we proposed to move the game to Vladikavkaz. I do not know why we were denied."

Berdyev insisted he would not allow his side to play if he felt the conditions were too bad.

"We want to play," he said. "But we are opposed to football in unacceptable conditions.

"On Thursday, it will be very cold. At a temperature of minus 25, you probably cannot play."

It is hoped the change of time and the special nature of the stadium, which is designed to be up to three degrees warmer inside than out, will allow the match to proceed.

Aside from captain Roman Sharonov and midfielder Aleksandr Ryazantsev, who will not be risked on the artificial surface, Berdyev has a full squad to choose from.

As with all the Russian sides in the last 32, though, they have the disadvantage of not having played a competitive game this year.

In that time, Twente, who like their opponents dropped into the competition from the group stages of the Champions League, have shown a marked upturn in form which has taken them to second in the Eredivisie, level on points with leaders PSV Eindhoven.

And coach Michel Preud'homme expects his players to take the adverse conditions in their stride.

"Tonight we have trained and experienced the cold," he told fctwente.nl. "We have heard many stories about the special circumstances, but now we are here, we are ready to play the game.

"Kazan will also suffer from the cold."