Rubin Kazan went down to ten-man Olympiacos 1-0 in the first leg of the opening round of the Europa League’s knockout stages played in freezing temperatures in Moscow.

­It’s impossible to play football in Kazan during winter. So the match was moved to the artificial pitch of the Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium.

But UEFA officials had to wait till the last minute to give the players a green light as it was minus 13 on the day in the Russian capital.

The guests from warmer Greece appeared not to be afraid of the cold at all. Olympiacos showed great movement, constantly putting Rubin under pressure in their own half.

The visitors were especially dangerous in the opening 25 minutes when Rafik Djebbour and Kevin Mirallas missed good scoring chances.

Rubin, on the contrary, looked frozen, never letting the crowd forget that it was their first official game in 2012.    

Kurban Berdyev’s men managed to maintain the 0-0 score sheet at the halftime whistle, thanks to confident play from keeper, Giedrius Arlauskis.

But even Arla was helpless after David Fuster’s effort, which give Greeks the lead on the restart, 1-0.

Rubin had a great opportunity to equalize in the very next attack. Olympiacos goalie, Balazs Megyeri, brought Gokdeniz Karadeniz down in the box and was sent off.

Bebras Natcho executed the penalty kick, but substitute keeper, Roy Carroll, saved his team, and a clean sheet till the final whistle.     

Rubin’s coach, Kurban Berdyev, refused to talk about the weather after the match, stressing that “Both sides were in equal conditions.”

“Olympiacos showed themselves a strong, balanced team, who are on the go,” he told NTV+ channel. “We’re still far from the shape we were in the end of last year. But there’s till the away leg.”

The coach also added that it would’ve been a lot easier for the Kazan side in Piraeus on February 23 if Natcho netted from the spot.  

Last year, Rubin also had to play at Luzhniki in the same stage of the Europa League and lost to Dutch side Twente 2-0.