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NUFC v FC Anzhi 7th March

Having beaten FC Kharkiv at the Metallist Stadium in Kharkiv Ukraine, Newcastle were drawn away to FC Anzhi Makhachkala, who due to civil unrest in their home area have been forced to play all of their home matches in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.

The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow, or briefly Luzhniki Stadium, is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 89,318 seats, all covered. The stadium is the home to CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow and also the national team.

There were a total of 72 tickets sold for the game but it looked like a smaller number of fans who actually managed the trip to Moscow after struggling to get Visas at an extortionate cost!

This was my second time in Moscow and both times Lenins tomb had been shut – imagine my surprise walking into a bar and finding him sitting in there drinking vodka – checkout the pictures…..
Mark being a culture vulture requested that we went a day early to see the sights!

Among the sights we visited were the following:

  • St Basils Cathedral
  • Red Square
  • Kremlin
  • Royal Armoury – houses the treasures inside the Kremlin
  • Grand Tour of the Metro Stations
  • Bunker 42 – cold war bunker 60m below ground
  • Ultisa Arbat – shopping area
  • Izmailovsky Market – cheapest souvenirs in Moscow and obligatory Russian Hat!
  • Luzhniki Stadium – national stadiumand home to CSKA Moscow
  • Sparrow Hill – views of the stadium and also over all of Moscow
  • Lokomotiv Stadium – football ground
  • Meeting Lenin – not in his tomb but in a bar!

The temp was -22 when we arrived and apart from physically hurting the extremities it immediately brought on an involuntary cough……

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