Moscow domination: how was the Fraternal Cup-2025

The Fraternal Cup, a friendly tournament that has become an important stage of preparation for the season for Russian clubs, has ended in the capital. CSKA and Dynamo played two matches each against Serbian Partizan and OFK Belgrade. The format has been preserved since last year: the trophy was awarded not to an individual team, but to the country whose representatives scored the most points. Therefore, the tournament consisted of four matches, and teams from the same country did not play each other. Each meeting was held in the traditional format (two halves of 45 minutes each), the victory in regular time was awarded with three points. In case of a victory in a penalty shootout, the team received two points, for a penalty shootout defeat — one. All four meetings ended with victories for the Russian teams, and the total score of the confrontation turned out to be 14:4. The final table of the tournament recorded the equality of points between the Moscow clubs, but if we look at the results separately, the blue and white performed better due to the goal difference.

Synchronized wins

The Army team started the tournament with a victory: Kirill Glebov (15’), Ugreshich (57’, own goal) and Matvey Kislyak (61’) scored goals. Partizan responded only with an accurate shot from Milan Roganovic (25').

Fabio Celestini tried out a new 4-3-3 scheme, CSKA actively pressed the opponent, but not always successfully. The game turned out to be open, but the army team began to consistently create dangerous moments only after the break. This was also noted by the head coach after the final whistle.

— I didn't like the pressure we put on the opponent in the first half. This may be due to player fatigue due to our fees. There was also little traffic ahead, so we didn't really control the space we got between the lines. There were only a few chances in the first half. I liked the second half much more in terms of the quality of the game, besides, we were able to score more. So I liked the second half in attack," the CSKA press service quoted Fabio Celestini as saying.

In the opening match, the blue and white achieved a crushing result over OFK Belgrade. Dynamo dominated, and the victory was brought by goals from Osipenko (8'), Gladyshev (21'), Gagnidze (83') and Skopintseva (85'). Valery Karpin decided to use two different lineups in each half. From the first minutes, the players, whom the coach sees as the main ones, came out, and after the break, the young players got practice. Dynamo created a lot of chances, and the score should have been devastating during the first half, but the implementation suffered. It was possible to finish off the opponent only at the very end. A special event was the farewell of the blue and white team to Kirill Panchenko. The striker spent the first half in the fan stand, and entered the field in the 90th minute.

Experiments and victories

In the final meeting, the Army team consolidated their success by defeating OFK Belgrade. The goals were scored by Diveev (6’), Oblyakov (22’), Musaev (25’) and Glebov (57’). OFK reduced the difference only in the end, thanks to goals from Kabic (70') and Pantovic (89'). This time, the start of the match turned out to be much more successful for CSKA. Celestini's team managed to squeeze the Serbs into their penalty area and realize the game advantage. The players performed the coaching set-up much better, and Fabio noted the progress of the players.

— Actually, the team played very well for the first 60 minutes. I even congratulated them during the break that they did well and did everything right. Because we've been practicing it all week, and they've brought our best practices to life. The attitude towards the game was very good, so I was very pleased," the Swiss specialist emphasized.

The end of the meeting turned out to be bright. The referee awarded two penalties in four minutes. The Serbs scored their shot in the 89th minute, and after that Alerrandro did not score from the 11-meter mark and allowed OFK to avoid defeat.

Karpin's team also won their second match of the tournament. The victory over Partizan took place thanks to goals from Makarov (6'), Fomin (60') and Stepanov (78'). Milosevic (20') scored an accurate shot among the guests. The head coach made three changes to the starting line-up and allocated more time to the main squad. This time, massive substitutions with the release of young players occurred after an hour of play.

The Blue and white team managed to quickly take the lead, but after that Partizan leveled the game. The teams exchanged goals after edging near their penalty area (first Fomin lost the ball, and then Daniil himself made the selection and scored), and the young players were again better than the opponent in their segment of the match. Vladislav Stepanov's goal helped — the 16-year-old had previously spent only 27 minutes with Dynamo-2. The rest of the field appearances are in the youth championships. 10 minutes before the end of the game, Dynamo introduced another newcomer. Ivan Sergeev was presented with the club's T-shirt right at the stadium.

Kirill Glebov (2 goals), Ivan Oblyakov and Dmitry Skopintsev (both scored 1+1) became the most productive players of the Fraternal Cup.

Russian clubs confidently outplayed the guests from Serbia, demonstrating both the skills of experienced players and the potential of young people. It remains to be seen whether the Moscow teams will be able to transfer this confidence to official tournaments — we will receive the first answers very soon.

For CSKA, the season will begin with a Super Cup match against Krasnodar on July 12, and Dynamo will open the RPL season with a meeting with Baltika on July 18.