"The championship is leveling up, which is good news"

CSKA Moscow became the most successful club in the spring part of last season in Russian football. The Army team did not lose any of the 12 matches of the Russian championship and finished in third place, rising to it from sixth, where they went on a winter break.

They won the Russian Cup, defeating Rostov in the superfinal on June 1 (0-0 in regular time, 4-3 on penalties). Prior to that, the red and blue managed to knock out Zenit St. Petersburg, which was considered the favorite, following the results of a two-match confrontation." (0:2, 2:0, 4:3 on penalties).

In an interview with Izvestia, Roman Babayev, the general director of the army, commented on the successful finish of last season, speculated about the chances of competing for the championship in the next draw and noted the importance of the success of the not very rich CSKA against the background of spending a lot of money on transfers from Zenit and Spartak.

— If someone had told you in the winter, when CSKA was in sixth place in the championship, that you would finish the season with an RPL bronze and a Cup victory, how would you react?

— It would have been a very bold statement at that time, but seeing how Nikolic works with the team, how the team works at the training camp, there was faith in improvement — a certain optimism increased. As a result, winning the Cup of Russia and the bronze of the championship is really a very impressive achievement. And it turned out as a result of honest and good work.

— It was very difficult for CSKA to rebuild the squad after 2018, when, after the departure of Sergei Ignashevich, the Berezutsky brothers, Pontus Wernbloom and Bibars Natho, the legendary championship team actually ended. After two Cup wins, a silver and a bronze in the championship over the past three seasons, can we say that the new team has finally been built?

— In a sense, yes. There is a backbone that is already capable of competing for medals and trophies and winning them. A certain continuity has appeared again. Yes, we have a good team, but nevertheless we understand that in order to fight for the championship, we also need resources — human resources. And they need finances. We will try to look for appropriate opportunities for the further growth of the team and make the most of these opportunities.

— Where is CSKA on the budget in the RPL?

—On the sixth floor, if I'm not mistaken." This is open information, it is published by the RFU.

He didn't take long: Nikolic took the trophy in his first season at the head of CSKA

The Army team equaled Lokomotiv in terms of winning Russian Cups

— Is it a special pride for you to beat Spartak in the championship and leave Zenit without a cup — teams that spent tens of millions of euros on transfers last year, orders of magnitude more than CSKA?

— It's not that it's just a matter of principle.… It was just our concept to work according to our capabilities and achieve the highest possible results. In principle, we are not the same — the same Krasnodar, which won the gold of the Russian championship, is far from the first in terms of budget in the RPL.

— Who appointed Nikolic? Can you tell me which of the CSKA leaders was the first to suggest putting Marko on the post of head coach of the team a year ago?

— Our decisions are made collectively. Therefore, I will not name you any one person who became the author of this appointment. The decision was made jointly.

— Many consider CSKA to be the favorite in the fight for gold at the next Russian championship. How much of such a task will the team face?

— The task, of course, will be. But I would not say that we are the undisputed favorites. Look at the competition in the championship this season and the previous one. Fight to the very end, to the last round. Our championship is gradually leveling off, which, of course, is encouraging. Therefore, we, Spartak, Krasnodar, Zenit, and Dynamo will all qualify for the championship.