Sports weekend with Izvestia

Football

The Russian Championship. Round 23. Lokomotiv — Zenit, Rostov — Spartak, CSKA — Dynamo (Moscow)

In the midst of the RPL championship race, two gold contenders will play difficult away matches in the upcoming 23rd round. Zenit St. Petersburg, which is coming in second, will visit Moscow's Lokomotiv, which until recently was in the group of leaders of the national championship, but after a series of failures ended up in sixth place and is now extremely motivated to return to the fight for medals.

And Spartak Moscow, which closes the top three, will hold an away meeting with Rostov, which is confidently positioned in the middle of the table. In addition, the CSKA Moscow — Dynamo derby awaits us next weekend. Both teams are not far from the leaders and will compete in a face-to-face confrontation for the right to seriously join the fight for the championship.

April 5, 17:30, Russian Railways Arena (Moscow). April 6: 16:30, Rostov Arena (Rostov-on-Don); 19:30, VEB Arena (Moscow). Live broadcasts on Match TV and Match Premier

Hockey

Gagarin Cup. The first round. Fifth and sixth matches

In the initial stage of the KHL playoffs, the fight for entry into the second round is in full swing. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Spartak Moscow have already secured their participation in it. But in the remaining six episodes of the first round, the fight continues. However, in the confrontation between Dynamo Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg, the denouement is close. The Blue and white lead the series 3-1, and in the event of their Friday home victory in the fifth match, the club from the Northern Capital will end the season. If he manages to win, then the sixth match will be held in St. Petersburg on Sunday.

The sixth games in the remaining series will definitely take place. On Saturday, they will be held in the confrontations Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) — Avangard (Omsk), Avtomobilist (Yekaterinburg) — Ak Bars (Kazan), Dynamo (Minsk) — CSKA (Moscow). So far, the score is 3:2 in favor of Avangard, Avtomobilist, Dinamo Minsk. If these teams win the next matches, they will advance to the second round.

The situation in the two confrontations in the East is completely confused. The 2-2 score in the Traktor (Chelyabinsk) — Admiral (Vladivostok) and Salavat Yulaev (Ufa) — Sibir (Novosibirsk) series guaranteed us the fifth and sixth matches, which will be held on April 4 in Chelyabinsk and Ufa and on April 6 in Vladivostok and Novosibirsk. If the score is 3-3 in some series by the end of the week, the winners will be determined in the first two days of next week based on the results of the decisive seventh meetings.

April 4: 17:00, Valery Belousov Traktor Arena (Chelyabinsk), Ufa Arena (Ufa); 19:30, VTB Arena (Moscow). April 5: 14:30, G-Drive Arena (Omsk); 17:00, CSKA Arena (Moscow), Tatneft Arena (Kazan). April 6: 10:00, Fetisov Arena (Vladivostok); 13:30, Sibir Arena (Novosibirsk); 17:00, SKA Arena (St. Petersburg). Live broadcasts on Match TV, KHL TV, KHL Prime and Kinopoisk

Tennis

Women. WTA 500 Charleston Tournament

Two Russians are competing for the trophy at the prestigious women's tennis tournament in Charleston, USA, this week. Ekaterina Alexandrova has already reached the quarterfinals, and Anna Kalinskaya can get there if she beats American Madison Keys in the 1/8 finals on the night of April 4. The winner of the competition will receive 500 points in their WTA ranking.

April 4: 1:00, 1/8 finals, Kalinskaya — Keyz; 18:00 — 0:00, quarterfinals. April 5: 0:00 — 4:00, quarterfinals; 18:00 — 0:00, semifinals. April 6, 21:00, final. Credit One Stadium Tennis Center (Charleston, USA). Live broadcasts on the WTA website

Football

The French Championship. PSG — Angers, Brest — Monaco, Montpellier - Le Havre

PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov is close to winning the French Championship for the first time in his career. To do this, his team needs to score at least one point in the upcoming home match with Angers at the bottom of the standings. If the Parisians do not lose, but draw or win, they will secure the final first place in six rounds before the end.

Their closest pursuer, Monaco, is fighting to finish in the top four. This will give you the right to play in the next Champions League draw. Midfielder Alexander Golovin, who returned from injury, should help the Monegasques. Next weekend, his team will have to travel to Brest, which is in the middle of the table.

Meanwhile, Daler Kuzyaev's Le Havre, which is in the relegation zone, still has a chance of salvation. He is currently in 17th place. To keep his registration in the elite, he needs to finish at least 16th place. The team is separated from her by only two points. To get closer to this position, Le Havre needs to win away from the hopeless outsider of the championship, Montpellier, in the next round.

April 5: 18:00, Parc des Princes Stadium (Paris, France); 20:00, Francis Le Bleu Stadium (Brest, France). April 6, 18:15, Mosson-Mondial 98 Stadium (Montpellier, France). Live broadcasts on Okko Sport

Biathlon

The Commonwealth Cup. The sixth stage

The Russian winter sports season is at the finish line. This week, the last official competitions will be held among biathletes. The final stage of the Commonwealth Cup will be held in Murmansk. After that, all our athletes will go on vacation. The best Russian and Belarusian biathletes participate in this tournament. Before the last stage, Belarusian Anton Smolsky and Russian Natalia Shevchenko are in the lead in the overall standings.

April 4, sprint: 10:45 a.m., women; 1:15 p.m., men. April 5, mixed relay: 10:30 a.m., women; 1 p.m., men. April 6, mass start: 12:45 p.m., women; 2:30 p.m., men. Sports complex "Valley of comfort" (Murmansk). Live broadcasts on Match TV, Match! Arena" and "Match! The planet"

Ski racing

The Russian Cup. The final

The ski season is also nearing its end. The Russian Cup finishes this week. Its last stage takes place in the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk region. As usual, all the strongest Russians are performing there, including Olympic champions and World Cup winners Natalia Terentyeva and Alexander Bolshunov, who, after numerous failures in the winter, gained momentum and won several victories in a row. On the weekend, the last medals in the Russian Cup will be awarded, after which the skiers will have to hold the last races in the framework of the Russian championship.

April 4, individual race: 12:00 p.m., women; 2:30 p.m., men. April 6, mass start: 10:00 a.m., women; 11:00 a.m., men. Ski complex "Tirvas" (Kirovsk). Live broadcasts on Match TV, Match! Arena" and "Match! The planet"