Golden Crossing: what awaits Krasnodar and Zenit in the penultimate round of the Russian Premier League

In the penultimate, 29th, round of the Russian Football Championship, the tournament leaders will continue the correspondence dispute for gold — Krasnodar will visit Orenburg in the relegation zone, and Zenit St. Petersburg will travel to Rostov. Most likely, according to the results of these matches, the champion will not be determined and the intrigue will persist until the last round. Meanwhile, in the Moscow derby with Lokomotiv, third-placed CSKA will try to consolidate its position in the fight for bronze.

Orenburg – Krasnodar

After losing in the last round against CSKA (0:1) Krasnodar has deprived itself of the right to misfire in the fight for gold. He is only one point ahead of Zenit and now finds himself in a position where he has to win the remaining two matches. However, if the Bulls beat Orenburg away, and the next day the St. Petersburg club loses to Rostov, then Krasnodar will become the champion.

Naturally, most experts do not believe in such a gift from Zenit. Therefore, Murad Musaev's wards need to get the better of Orenburg, and a week later win at home against Dynamo Moscow. But Orenburg will not give up so easily, because it still retains, albeit small, chances of salvation from relegation from the RPL.

Vladimir Slishkovich's team is in the penultimate, 15th, place in the direct relegation zone. They are separated by five points from Akhmat Grozny, which occupies the 14th place in the zone of transitional matches. Even a draw with Krasnodar will mean a relegation for Orenburg. And a victory does not guarantee that the team will have a chance of salvation before the last round. In any case, she will have to fight with the leader for victory.

— Krasnodar will have a difficult match against a very motivated and organized opponent, — Maxim Demenko, a former Bulls midfielder, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — Do not pay attention to the tournament position of Orenburg — it looks very good this spring. And it's worth relegation only because of an unsuccessful performance in the first part of the championship, before the winter break. Nevertheless, Krasnodar's level of play is sufficient to beat Orenburg, as it was previously done in games against even more difficult Akhmat (3:1), Dynamo Makhachkala (3:2) and Rubin (2:1). It will be much more difficult in the last round against Dynamo Moscow. And it is necessary to win both matches — I am almost sure that Zenit will win their meetings and will not allow any more misfires, giving Krasnodar the opportunity to increase the gap.

Rostov – Zenit

Zenit suffered a very painful defeat against CSKA in the Russian Cup this week and was eliminated from this tournament. In the final of the "RPL Path" more than two weeks ago, the St. Petersburg club won 2-0 at home. It seemed that nothing would prevent them from retaining this advantage in the return away game. But the Army team took the lead in the first half, and at the end of the second they scored the second goal and also won in regular time 2:0. And then we were stronger in the penalty shootout (4:5).

Winning the Cup could be partial compensation in case of loss of championship gold. Now Zenit needs to take the trophy from Krasnodar at all costs in order to save the season. On May 25, the day after the final match in the championship, the club will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. It is clear that the management really wanted to win the championship for the seventh time in a row in the jubilee year and break Spartak Moscow's record for the number of titles in a row.

Two rounds before the finish, not everything depends on the blue-white-blue. They need to win away to Rostov and at home to Akhmat, and also hope for Krasnodar to misfire.

"It's hard to expect Zenit to misfire in the upcoming round," said Sergei Balakhnin, former Rostov head coach. — He has enough class to take three points in this match. Rostov is able to resist due to the organization of the game and physical condition, but the cup match with Spartak probably took away a lot of emotions and strength from him. In addition, Zenit has one more day of rest after the match with CSKA, which is especially important during a long trip to Rostov-on-Don. Therefore, I am almost sure that Zenit will take three points.

Lokomotiv – CSKA

After the triumph in the matches against Krasnodar in the championship and Zenit in the Cup, CSKA confirmed the status of the best team in Russia this spring. To bring this season to a logical success, he needs not to miss the bronze medal in the RPL and win the Cup Superfinal on June 1.

The Lokomotiv derby is one of the last matches when someone can stop the Army team. However, the railwaymen are having such a disastrous time this spring that their ability to stop an opponent who has gained momentum is questionable. The main pursuer in the fight for third place at CSKA is Dynamo Moscow, which is two points behind.

—Lokomotiv took points from Zenit in April (1-1) and may well repeat this in the upcoming derby with CSKA," Nikolai Naumov, former president of the Railwaymen, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — But it will be much more difficult to do this — the army staff is too organized and motivated this spring. Therefore, I hardly believe that someone will stop him on his way to medals.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming round. Dynamo Moscow will host Akron Togliatti, Spartak Moscow will visit Krylia Sovetov Samara, Pari Nizhny Novgorod will face Fakel Voronezh on the road, Akhmat Grozny will play Dynamo Makhachkala at home, and Khimki at home. The Kazan Ruby is waiting for you.