"We have enough gold for every player"

Moscow's Lokomotiv is still in crisis. In the Russian championship, the team is in 13th place in the transition zone after 12 rounds, and this week it was eliminated from the Cup of the country - after losing 1-3 to CSKA, the club secured the last place in the group before the end of the group stage, which means an early end to the performance in the tournament.

Head coach Mikhail Galaktionov has repeatedly explained failures by insufficient reinforcement of the squad. After winning the bronze medal in the championship last season, Lokomotiv sold three key players for big money — midfielders Alexei Batrakov and Artem Karpukas, as well as striker Dmitry Vorobyov. In return, midfielders Sergei Babkin, Nikolai Titkov and Andrei Mostovoy were acquired during the season, but the forward position was not closed. Defender Georgy Dzhikiya and midfielder Alexander Kovalenko, who joined in June, rarely play in the championship.

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In an interview with Izvestia, Galaktionov explained the reinforcement situation and the logic of choosing players for the Russian Cup matches, where Loko did not play all five group stage games with the main squad.

— You have often talked this season about the insufficient strengthening of the squad. Do you have an understanding of why this happened? Does the club have no money? Are there no suitable available players on the transfer market? Did anyone from the club's management consider it necessary to strengthen the squad with nosebleeds? Or something else?

— There are probably many factors involved. And many factors would help answer this question of yours. But you know, there's a good saying: when you have a desire, you'll find a thousand possibilities, and when you don't have that desire, you'll find a thousand reasons. That's why it's hard for me to say. Apparently, everything came together and influenced the fact that such a story happened.

— Are there any specific people in the leadership who have found these thousand reasons?

— We are talking about the results of the team now. Therefore, the responsibility lies primarily with the coaching staff and the team. Next, we'll look at what factors led to this, and it's better for you to evaluate it yourself and make up your own opinion.

— Lokomotiv crashed out of the Russian Cup, playing all the group stage matches with a non-core squad. At the same time, two years ago, having already secured the first place in the group, you took the main squad to the away match of the last round with Rostov. Following that game, there was a 1-1 league trip to St. Petersburg to Zenit, with whom you fought for leadership. Why was it important then to shift the base to a meaningless match in Rostov-on-Don, despite all the logistical difficulties in the form of the lack of air service in the city, and now, when an early departure from the tournament began to threaten, did you conduct a wide rotation of the squad?

— No, no, wait, you're a little wrong. More precisely, it's not that they're wrong. You're just stating a story. But it is important to understand that at that time it was of the utmost importance for us to let the base play. Because not everything was possible then in terms of the quality of the game. Therefore, we decided that the main squad would play in the Cup with Rostov. So that we can remember our requirements and practice through the Cup. And the schedule allowed us to do it in three days for the fourth, so we managed to return from Rostov-on-Don and go to St. Petersburg. And we played well in St. Petersburg.

— But we didn't put the squeeze on Zenit, although we could have won in terms of the quality of the game.

— Yes, but I explained to you what our goals were. What would you like to ask about the current Cup draw?

— It is unclear why, when the prospect of last place and early relegation loomed, you did not play some of the matches as a base. It feels like you initially prioritized the Cup significantly below the championship.

— We chose this squad because the number of players was limited. It remains limited. We knew that we had other matches coming up, so we couldn't sacrifice the players by fully involving them in both tournaments and risking that one of the guys might drop out due to injury. And we already have every player worth the whole gold. And if someone falls out, it will be very significant for us. Although in the last match against CSKA, you might have noticed that the players were mostly the same guys who will play Spartak in the championship in three days. But towards the end of the match, we decided to save them too.

— Last transfer window, Lokomotiv acquired Sergey Babkin and Nikolai Titkov, who left the club during your time.

— They weren't in the team.

— They were still only leased at that time, but they belonged to Lokomotiv.

— If my memory serves me correctly, as soon as we went to the Emirates in January 2023, the transfer was already completed — I'm not ready to say now whether on a permanent basis or not (Babkin finally joined Krylia Sovetov in September 2023, Baltika bought Titkova from Loko"in July 2025. — Ed.). But we didn't have them, so to speak, in manual mode.

— So the question "Why didn't you need them then, but you need them now" is inappropriate?

"He's definitely inappropriate. But let me answer in general, without projecting on a specific situation. Back then, the level of the team at Lokomotiv was completely different. And it was not easy for Babkin and Titkov to prove themselves then. Renting or transferring to other teams is normal. And I am glad that they were able to prove themselves in Samara and Kaliningrad.

— Can we say that now their transfer is not a transfer based on the residual principle, when there was simply no one else to take?

— They definitely have good qualities. We are pleased with their purchase. Titkov generally reveals himself in other colors. It is clear that he was one of the leaders at Baltika and performed his functions well. And here we try to modify it a little bit, to reveal it a little differently. And we really like the way it looks.