The Magnificent Six: How RPL clubs are preparing for the Winter Cup in Abu Dhabi

There is a winter pause in domestic soccer - RPL matches will resume only at the end of February. Until then, all 16 clubs in the league have left Russia to prepare for the restart in comfortable conditions. Some have gone to Turkey, others are training in Qatar or the UAE. Some teams are not just training, but also entertaining the fans - for example, the Winline RPL Winter Cup will kick off in Abu Dhabi on January 30. For fans bored with purely Russian matches, the tournament will be a salvation. And for teams - an opportunity to prepare in cool conditions.

Almost a tradition

Various friendly competitions with Russian clubs have been held for several years now, the first time such a story was pulled off back in 2019. But specifically the Winter Cup is gradually becoming a tradition: the current tournament in Abu Dhabi is the third in a row.

The event debuted in the winter of 2023 with an extremely simple format. Four participants - Spartak, Krasnodar, Rostov and Sochi - competed in one group. Who took first place at the end of three rounds took the victory, then the success was celebrated by the Red-Whites.

They also took the cup the following year. But then the organizers added a twist to the tournament, making it international: in addition to Spartak and Rostov, they invited Kazakhstan's Kairat and Shabab Al-Ahli from the UAE. In the end, the foreign grandees failed to cope with the competition. The same Spartak bombed both - scoring six unanswered goals against Kazakhstan and five against the UAE club. Good performance in the end helped to pick up a win at the tournament.

Winter Cup - 2025 will be the third and, judging by the scale and interest of the organizers, not the last.

The format has been pumped up

The friendly tournament in 2025 is not just a four-team competition, but a truly competitive one. The participants are now six, they have been divided into two groups - those who take first place in each group go to the final, the rest will fight for third and fifth place respectively. In the first group - "Spartak", "Krasnodar", "Dynamo". In the second group - Zenit, CSKA, Rostov.

Three clubs are making their debut at the tournament: Zenit, CSKA and Dynamo are participating in the Winter Cup for the first time. "Krasnodar" once already played in Abu Dhabi, but "Spartak" and "Rostov" are real veterans of winter battles.

The schedule is already known: the entire duration of the tournament - from January 30 to February 11; group stage - from January 30 to February 7; playoffs (matches for third and fifth place) - February 10; final - February 11.

Tickets are sold for each match of the tournament. The cost is about $5.

Rookies on the field and top matches

Friendly matches and tournaments are treated differently. Some coaches (for example, Valeri Karpin) do not put them in anything and consider them the same training, just public. But the fans, of course, have a different view. They have enough intrigue.

Yes, so far, in terms of transitions, the transfer window of winter-2024/25 is very weak: five of the six participants have no newcomers at all. Only Zenit have bought powerfully, spending tens of millions of euros on reinforcements.

But who says that Sergei Semak's renewal is not interesting? Actually, one of Brazil's most promising strikers, Luis Henrique, has moved to the Blue and White Blues. The Winter Cup is a great opportunity for him to show what the talk about him and the price they paid for him (about €0 million) were worth.

Plus the tournament will run for almost two weeks - there is confidence that during this time Dynamo, Spartak, Krasnodar, CSKA and Rostov will get "fresh blood". It can be evaluated here in Abu Dhabi. There is plenty of talk about potential reinforcements: the Red and Whites are being offered several top strikers, the Army Men are waiting for their Brazilians, and Dynamo and Rostov may exchange midfielder Glebov during the Winter Cup.

Online evaluation of transfers in excellent quality and combat conditions is perhaps one of the main advantages of the friendly tournament. And both for fans and coaches (no matter how much they grumble) - the usual closed "friendlies" with weak opponents still motivate players a little less.

The Winter Cup is the Russian Super League, a tournament for the best. With the exception of Lokomotiv, the organizers have brought to Abu Dhabi the top teams of Russia, any match between which is of sporting interest.

Already at the group stage, the fans can expect hot matches - Spartak vs Krasnodar (never a dull moment), Zenit vs CSKA (always a fight to the death) and even the oldest derby in the country - Red-Whites vs Dynamo. With such a calendar, the teams will have to do their best, which means that the fans are in for a great spectacle. And this is only the group stage, and three more matches, including the final, will take place in the playoffs.

Who will win?

Again, the question of winning at friendly tournaments for many coaches usually does not stand - they have priority in preparing for official games, so the score is not important to them, the specialists are solving their tasks. Still, for the fans (waiting for the official meetings) the name of the winner plays a role.

Moreover, the opponents' lineup is crazy. The same "Spartak" and "Zenit" have not previously crossed paths in friendly competitions, participated in different ones and almost always won. Now they will face each other - not a bad intrigue, albeit on a local, friendly level.

No less interesting is how the other teams - Dynamo, Krasnodar, Rostov, CSKA - will perform. After all, the second and most important half of the season is ahead, and even such a small thing as a successful performance at the tournament can emotionally energize the team and eventually help them in the spring.

With the current situation in the RPL standings (everything is very tight there), the Winter Cup is becoming more and more important. So let's keep an eye on the main event of the winter break - starting from January 30.