The tops can, the bottoms want to: will the bulls be able to repeat the triumph in the RPL

On Friday, a new Russian football championship among the teams of the Russian Premier League (RPL) starts with the match between Dynamo Moscow and Kaliningrad. For the first time since 2018, Zenit St. Petersburg is not starting it as the current winner of the tournament. Last season, after years of dominance, Krasnodar took away the gold medals from him. Their confrontation claims to be the main intrigue of the upcoming competition, but it will be equally interesting whether Spartak Moscow, Dynamo, CSKA and Lokomotiv will be able to join the fight for the first place. The struggle for survival at the bottom of the table also promises to be acute, where two teams remained in the RPL not on a sporting basis.

The tops

Zenit won the gold medal of the Russian Championship for six seasons in a row. But already in the spring of 2024, the last victory in the tournament at the moment was won by Sergei Semak's wards with great difficulty: the blue-white-blues took the trophy only in the last round, taking advantage of the misfire of the leading Dynamo Moscow.

Zenit had a bright first round last season, but after an injury to its leader Maxim Glushenkov, it stalled and let Krasnodar go ahead, which claimed gold with an 11-match winning streak. Then the bulls began to lose points, and in the spring it seemed that Zenit would not give them a chance to win the trophy. But in the end, the southern club took the lead in the last round and did not miss its opportunity.

The St. Petersburg club made two powerful reinforcements in the summer in the person of Brazilian midfielder Gerson and Argeti defender Roman Vega. But Krasnodar is not far behind. So far, he has managed to maintain the core of the championship squad. In addition, the Bulls acquired two Brazilians from the French championship — defender Jubal from Auxerre and midfielder Douglas Augusto from Nantes. Uruguayan midfielder Gaetan Perrin, who plays for Auxerre, is due to arrive from the same championship soon.

Once again, as a year ago, there are rumors about the possible departure of one of Krasnodar's leaders, Eduard Spertsyan, to Europe. But even if he leaves, the Bulls still have the young Danila Kozlov, who was acquired a year ago.

"So far, both contenders for last season's gold look like favorites in the upcoming championship draw," Maxim Demenko, a former Krasnodar and Zenit midfielder, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — They have retained their core and are now being reinforced by high-quality players. There is stability in the squad, coaching staff and management, which is a plus for both clubs. Against this background, other teams have their own difficulties: Dynamo and CSKA have changed coaches, who need time to sort out the available lineups and set up the game. In this sense, Spartak and Lokomotiv stand out because they did not change their coaches, the squad is stable, but there is still no sign of strengthening, due to which the teams can join the fight for medals. Although each of the four Moscow clubs, with a successful combination of circumstances, is able to shoot and impose a fight on the leaders.

Spartak extended the agreement on improved terms with head coach Dejan Stankovic, although the previous contract was valid for another year. This decision by the red and white leadership surprised after the spring failure, when the team, which had been fighting for gold back in March, dropped out of the top three and finished fourth, spending more than €30 million on transfers in the winter.

So far, the club has no large-scale reinforcements. He signed 34-year-old striker Anton Zabolotny from the bankrupt Khimki as a free agent. This decision provoked ridicule from the public because of the stereotype that this player is not for solving big problems. This opinion arose back in the late 2010s, when Anton was unable to break into the Zenit base. Since then, he has successfully played for Sochi, when he helped it take fifth place and reach the European Cup, then played a significant role in the success of CSKA, winning the Russian Cup and championship silver with him in 2023, and last season pulled Khimki, which was financially struggling, to 12th. a place that allowed them to escape from relegation from the RPL on a sporting basis and drop out only because of lack of money.

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Dynamo Moscow has thundered with the appointment of Valery Karpin as head coach, who will combine this post with a similar job in the Russian national team. This immediately provoked criticism from some other clubs, who claimed that the blue and white had gained a competitive advantage in negotiations with potential newcomers. So far this summer, they have managed to sign defender Maxim Osipenko, Karpin's friend from Rostov, as well as striker Ivan Sergeev from Krylia Sovetov Samara, for whom Zenit and Spartak were also fighting.

CSKA successfully spent the spring part of the season, rising from sixth to third place in the championship and winning the Russian Cup. But a week after the end of the season, the football community was shocked by the departure of the head coach of the Army, Marko Nikolic, which came as a surprise to the club itself.

The Serbian specialist headed the Greek AEK. CSKA urgently managed to find Fabio Cellestini, who previously worked in Basel, Switzerland, in his place. His official debut happened last week, when the red and blue won the Russian Super Cup, beating Krasnodar in Kazan (1-0).

Lokomotiv Moscow did not change much in the leadership and coaching staff, but strengthened the players with two strikers — the long-term leader of Rostov, Nikolai Komlichenko, and the leader of the collapsed Khimki, Alexander Rudenko. At the same time, the main creator of the success of the Moscow region club, the Argentine attacking midfielder Lucas Vera, could not be taken: the transfer to the ranks of the red-green failed at the last moment. Last season, Loko had a great first round when it was close to first place, but in the second it failed and dropped to sixth place. Nevertheless, in a recent interview with Sport-Express, the chairman of the Board of directors of Railwaymen, Yuri Nagornykh, said that the team could compete for a place in the top three.

"All four Moscow clubs can equally succeed this season by competing for gold, or fail," Dmitry Bulykin, a former forward for Lokomotiv and Dynamo, told Izvestia. — They look less stable than Krasnodar and Zenit, coaches have changed somewhere, who need time to adapt, but at the same time, such changes additionally motivate teams and sometimes allow them to show good results on the move. And for Lokomotiv and Spartak, on the contrary, it says that their coaches are already well aware of the capabilities of their players and can work on mistakes before the new season.

The bottoms

The offseason turned out to be one of the most critical in the history of Russian football. As a result, the two clubs that were eliminated from the RPL last season avoided relegation. The first beneficiary was Pari Nizhny Novgorod, which took the place of Khimki, which lost its place in the Premier League due to financial problems.

The second club, Orenburg, found out only a week ago that its demotion had been reset. This happened due to the situation with Torpedo Moscow, which took second place in the last First League draw, which gave it direct access to the RPL.

But in June, a scandal broke out around Avtozavodtsy — their main founder Leonid Sobolev and CEO Valery Skorodumov were detained by law enforcement agencies on suspicion of attempting to bribe the referee of several First League spring matches. Both functionaries are currently in jail. The investigation is still underway, but the RFU, based on the results of its investigation, decided to send Torpedo back to the first league. His place in the RPL was taken by Orenburg, which will now have to look for a Premier League reinforcement during the season until the end of the summer transfer window.

In addition, Kaliningrad Baltika rose from the first league. It is also possible that the Samara Wings of the Soviets will lead the fight for survival, significantly reducing the budget, as well as changing the head coach and a significant part of the squad. In addition, Akhmat Grozny may have difficulties, having difficulty retaining its place in the RPL following the results of the transition matches with Ural Yekaterinburg." (1:2; 2:0).

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The prospects of the teams that debuted in the RPL last season, Dynamo Makhachkala and Akron Togliatti, are also interesting. The Dagestani club had the smallest budget in the league, but due to successful selection, the work of the coaching staff and selfless play in each match, they won a number of bright victories over the leaders and secured 11th place in the last round, avoiding transitional matches.

Akron had a tough start to the championship, but in early fall, unlike other clubs, they decided to sign star striker Artyom Dzyuba, who was out of work. And it was largely thanks to him that he gained a foothold in the middle of the table and, long before the finish, resolved the issue of extending his registration in the RPL. Having managed to re-sign Dzyuba for the coming season, Akron has a good chance of escaping relegation again.

The Russian RPL Championship, as usual, will be held in 30 rounds and will end on May 17, 2026, after which the 13th and 14th teams will play transitional matches with the 3rd and 4th teams of the first league during the week. The RPL clubs ranked 15th and 16th will be eliminated directly.