Who doesn't follow the "Path": what will be interesting about the start of the Russian Cup

From Tuesday to Thursday, the matches of the first round of the "RPL Paths" group stage of the National Cup will be held. This stage can present several intriguing plots at once: the development of principled battles and unexpected victories of outsiders. The most interesting meetings are described in the Izvestia article.

Dynamo – Sochi (Group B)

For Robert Moreno, this is a real chance to rehabilitate himself after a nightmarish 0-7 in the first two rounds of the Russian Premier League. The Sochi coach has already given the club half of his monthly salary (at least, he announced it) — now we need to keep the other half. Dynamo, although it looks like the favorite, can play with the second team: Valery Karpin always gave a lot of time to the reserves in the Cup, besides, on Saturday the blue and white have an important trip to Krasnodar with difficult logistics. This is an additional reason to take care of the leaders.

Sochi will have almost a week to recover before the next championship match, which is the perfect chance for Moreno to prove that his team is not giving up.

Krasnodar – Krylia Sovetov (Group B)

Krasnodar needs to rehabilitate itself in front of its fans after losing to Lokomotiv, and the situation is quite conducive to this. They strengthened quite well in the summer and improved the "depth" of the bench — now there are equivalent replacements for almost all positions, and you can safely play with two squads. The calendar at the start is also convenient: Krasnodar does not need to go anywhere — there are three consecutive home matches on the schedule (Lokomotiv, Krylia Sovetov in the Cup, Dynamo). This will allow Murad Musayev's team to recover in a calm mode. The reigning champion has everything to successfully start the path to first place in his group.

CSKA Moscow – Lokomotiv (Group D)

Before the Moscow derby, Lokomotiv is in a stronger position. He is on the rise after the victories over Sochi and Krasnodar. The champion has already been defeated, and now the railwaymen can beat the current Cup winner. Mikhail Galaktionov makes few personnel changes before the week's matches — last year Loko started this tournament with almost the main squad.

CSKA has the opposite situation. There is an important meeting ahead with Zenit in the third round of the Russian Premier League. Fabio Celestini may give some of the main players a rest, so the chances of Lokomotiv continuing their successful start with a new victory are quite good.

Rostov – Spartak (Group C)

It seems to be the most intriguing poster, despite the presence of the Moscow derby. Last season, these teams met as many as five times, and despite Spartak's two crushing victories in the championship, Rostov was stronger in all three cup matches. The last meeting was especially painful for the "red and white". They had already lost hope of competing for the RPL gold, and there was one last chance to finish the season with a trophy. But in the final of the path of the regions, Rostov won (1:2), and Deyan Stankovich noted in a recent interview that it was the most difficult moment of his first season at Spartak. Therefore, this meeting will be crucial for the head coach, and the team will certainly want to take revenge.

Akhmat vs Zenit (Group A)

For many Zenit fans, away matches against Akhmat are closely associated with serious problems. From 2015 to 2022, the series lasted, during which the blue-white-blues won only one victory in Grozny. But the days when this trip was the most difficult for Zenit are over. The current squad has more recent memories: the 2019 championship, which was awarded after a draw at the Akhmat Arena, and Casserra's penta-trick in May 2024. Akhmat is no longer considered an inconvenient opponent.

Zenit's current clip allows you to play calmly on two fronts. Last year, reserves played in almost all Cup matches. Zenit's group is no more complicated now, so we'll probably see experiments from the coaching staff at the start. Akhmat has an additional motivation: they started with two defeats under the new coach, and Alexander Storozhuk will certainly want to perform well against a strong opponent in front of his audience. In the summer, Grozny surprised with their activity in the transfer market, and now their roster also allows you to play on two fronts without losing quality. Therefore, this match will also be interesting.