Spartak dominated Russian football under Romantsev in the 1990s, using a system whereby the club discovered young players from across the former USSR, developed their talents to the full and then, availing of the newfound freedom to do business with the West following the fall of Communism in Europe, proceeded to sell them on to Western European clubs for a significant profit. A string of future Russian internationals passed through Spartak's doors during this time – Valery Karpin, Dmitry Alenichev, Viktor Onopko, Igor Shalimov, Dmitry Radchenko and Sergei Rodionov all came and went with the money from their sales funding the next iteration. By the end of Romantsev's time at the club, Spartak had won nine league titles (three successively from 1992 to 1994, and six in succession from 1996 to 2001) as well as four Russian Cups. Under his tenure, Spartak also reached the semi-finals of all three major European competitions (the 1990–91 European Cup, 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1997–98 UEFA Cup) – a run that saw them eliminate sides such as Real Madrid, Liverpool and Diego Maradona's Napoli.