Race without a leader: Zenit will visit Spartak without a key player

There will be three top matches in the upcoming 21st round of the Russian Football Championship. The main one will be the confrontation between Spartak Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg, which will significantly affect the balance of power in the fight for gold. In addition, we are waiting for the Moscow derby of Lokomotiv and Dynamo, who are trying to catch up with the top three. And Krasnodar, which goes first, is waiting for a difficult trip to Rostov.

Spartak – Zenit

Both teams went through difficult cup outings in the middle of the week. Spartak beat Tolyatti Akron in Samara (3:2) in the quarterfinals of the Path of the Regions. And Zenit defeated Rostov (1-0) in the first match of the "RPL Path".

Interestingly, both the red-whites and the blue-whites had a lot of key players in these meetings, who now have to face each other four days later. However, due to the suspensions, we will also not see Zenit midfielder Wendel and Spartak defender Alexis Duarte.

Wendel received a direct red card in the away match of the last round of the championship against Voronezh Fakel (2:0). The reason was the middle finger shown to the stands in response to racist chants. This was the mitigating circumstance, thanks to which the RFU KDC on Thursday, in addition to the suspension for the match with Spartak, gave the Brazilian only a conditional suspension for another game with a probation period of one year.

It is worth noting that Fakel got even more as a result of these proceedings. Voronezh residents will hold the next home match without an audience for booing at Zenit's Brazilian players from local spectators. It will be held in early April, and the opponent will be Akhmat. In addition, the club received a fine of 1 million rubles. The management of Fakel has already announced its intention to appeal the decision of the KDK to the RFU Appeal Committee.

Duarte was removed from the field in Kazan due to a scuffle with Rubin striker Mirlind Dacu. That match was lost by Spartak with a score of 1:2 — thus the red-white series of seven consecutive victories was interrupted. Because of this misfire, Deyan Stankovich's team was three points behind the leaders Krasnodar and Zenit, although they had managed to catch up with them earlier in the round.

— The upcoming match will be one of the decisive ones this season, — Andrey Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — If the red and white lose, then they will be able to say goodbye to their chances for the championship. It is difficult to assess who is the favorite of the match. Spartak players are good offensively, but very weak defensively. Zenit can take advantage of this, which looks sluggish so far, but has good performers to play reliably on the defensive and catch the opponent on a mistake.

Lokomotiv – Dynamo (Moscow)

The derby of these teams will largely determine which of them will retain their chances of winning medals. So far, Dynamo is one point behind Spartak, which is in third, and Loko is three points behind. Both teams didn't start the spring part of the season very well. Lokomotiv played two 1-1 draws in the championship with teams from the bottom of the table — away with Dynamo Makhachkala and at home with Akhmat Grozny.

Because of this, he lagged behind the competition. The team was slightly rehabilitated after another trip to Makhachkala, already in the Russian Cup. They won there (2:1) and won a ticket to the first stage of the semifinal of the "Paths of the Regions", where the Railwaymen will meet Akhmat at home in April.

Dynamo Moscow had a very bad away match with Rostov in the championship, but miraculously drew 1-1. And then they defeated Dynamo Makhachkala at home (4:0). But this week, the blue and white team lost to CSKA (1:2) the first match of the RPL Path semi-final.

—The Railwaymen look better than the blue and white ones right now, but not by much, so it's hard to name a favorite for the match," Dmitry Bulykin, a former forward for Lokomotiv and Dynamo, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — I'm saying that Loko is a little better only because Dynamo are currently experiencing personnel problems. They have a lot of players missing due to injuries. First of all, the loss of Konstantin Tyukavin looks difficult. But such a club should, despite these difficulties, fight for victory, and not look at its personnel losses. Moreover, Dynamo has invested quite a lot of money in the squad, and this should compensate for the absence of the same Tyukavin. Lokomotiv, in turn, is still playing indistinctly in March. If the draw in Makhachkala can still be attributed to the difficulties of the exit, then the victory over Akhmat should not have been missed if you want to fight for the highest places. But I hope that Loko will get in shape and return to the same condition as in the first round, when he was in the lead. I think this is possible, as are the successes of Dynamo. Now we have a championship where even Zenit is not playing its best football. Against this background, even with an imperfect game, it is possible to claim medals and championships, as Dynamo did last season. From here, I think that we will fight for gold again until the last round. And I expect an unpredictable game with a lot of mistakes and beautiful attacking moves from the upcoming Lokomotiv and Dynamo derbies.

Rostov – Krasnodar

Krasnodar also got off to an uneven start in the spring. He drew at home in the championship with Samara Krylia Sovetov (1:1), and then, not without difficulty, defeated Pari Nizhny Novgorod away (3:0). The main failure was the recent relegation from the Russian Cup as a result of a 1-2 home defeat to Akhmat.

But at the same time, the Bulls retain their leadership in the championship due to the misfires of Zenit and Spartak. They are level on points with Zenit, ahead of it due to the victory in the face-to-face meeting. Now Murad Musayev's team's championship ambitions will be tested by a tough trip to Rostov.

At the end of February, the Donskoy club sold its leader Danil Glebov to Dynamo, and the head coach of the team, Valery Karpin, left his post, remaining only in the Russian national team. Nevertheless, under his assistant Jonathan Alba, Rostov residents are still maintaining their level.

It was only because of poor execution of the moments that they did not win at home in the championship against Dynamo, and then defeated Orenburg away (2:1). The only thing that spoiled the impression of their March move was a home defeat against Zenit in the first match of the RPL Path semi-final (0:1).

"It will be a very combative match between two worthy teams," Maxim Demenko, a former Rostov and Krasnodar midfielder, told Izvestia. — Rostov residents look good even after the departure of Karpin and Glebov. They keep the same organization of the game and dedication. And it has always been difficult for Krasnodar to play against Rostov, but here it is necessary to pull out all the strength to win and continue the fight for the championship. So far, it is clear that the team is not at its best, but in fragments it still shows a good game and is able to improve at any moment.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming round. Orenburg, which is coming last, will host Fakel Voronezh, its neighbor in the standings. Khimki will face Akhmat at home. Dynamo Makhachkala will play against Krylia Sovetov Samara at home. CSKA Moscow will visit Tolyatti Akron. Rubin Kazan will face off against Pari Nizhny Novgorod at home.