Failures at Zenit: the main results of the first round of the RPL

Last weekend, the first round of the Russian Premier League championship ended. After 15 rounds, the teams went on an almost two-week break related to the matches of the national teams. The main results of the first half of the 2025/26 season in the RPL are in the Izvestia article.

Zenit is not the first

Hardly anyone can be surprised by the top three of the championship following the results of the first round. All the winners of last season remained on the podium. Except that the two teams have switched places: CSKA is now the second, and Zenit is the third.

Everything is stable only at the very top. The reigning champion of Russia, Krasnodar, finished the first round in first place. But, to be fair, everything is very tight.

The Bulls scored 33 points. The same number goes to the second army men. Zenit and Lokomotiv have 30 points each.

The Petersburgers surprised me to some extent. After all, the strongest team in the league obliges the team to fight for the return of the championship title. So far, it's been difficult. At the same time, you can't even say that Sergey Semak's team has serious problems with the results. Only one defeat in 15 rounds — against Akhmat in Grozny (0:1). That's one less than Krasnodar and CSKA, by the way. But there are a lot of draws — six (the Bulls and the Army have half as many). The period from the end of July to the middle of August became a crisis: four consecutive matches without wins (in addition to the loss to Akhmat, draws with Rubin, CSKA and Spartak).

But the losses didn't end there. At the moment, Zenit has drawn three times in the autumn part — 0-0 with Baltika, as well as 1-1 with Akron and Krylia Sovetov. If Zenit had won at least two of these three matches, they would now be the leader by one point.

"The field played into the hands of the Wings of the Soviets," noted well—known commentator Gennady Orlov. — Of course, it was in terrible condition: uneven and soft. For technical football players, such a lawn becomes a real problem. You still have to get used to it. The ball is bouncing... But all this cannot be an excuse! If Zenit is going to claim gold, it must adapt to such conditions. I think the blue-white-blues lost a lot of martial arts, they didn't have enough aggression. The motivation should still be different.

Semak cautiously assessed the results of the first round for the blue-white-blues, noting that if Zenit had won against Krylia on a spoiled turf, "there would have been a normal assessment." Does it turn out that it is unsatisfactory now? Given the ambitions of the once long-time hegemon, this question can be answered positively.

Go on a lap: RPL goes on break with unexpected results

The leaders are losing points, Spartak beat Akhmat for the first time since 2021

Baltika — the main discovery

Who would have thought that the champion of the First League last season would seriously compete with the top clubs of the RPL? At the beginning of the season, it seemed like a fantasy, but now it's a reality that we all need to accept.

Baltika finished the first round in fifth place, scoring 28 points. Only two less than Zenit and Lokomotiv, and five less than the leading Krasnodar. In addition, the Baltics conceded the least in the championship (seven goals), which indicates their reliability and discipline in defense. In particular, goalkeeper Maxim Borisko. He left his goal "dry" more than anyone else in the championship (nine matches without conceding goals with 84% of deflected shots). It is also worth noting the reliable defender Mingiyan Beveyev with his confident league averages: 1.4 interceptions per game, 2.1 rebounds, 4.0 ball returns and 2.9 takeaways. Both deservedly received a call-up to the Russian national team.

Baltika was also pleasantly surprised in attack. 24-year-old Salvadoran center forward Brian Gil shares the second place in the ranking of the top scorers of the RPL-2025/26 with Albanian Mirlin Dacu from Rubin with eight goals in 15 matches. And this man came from a relatively exotic Colombian championship! At this rate, you see, European clubs will look after you.

But the main thing is how the big winter break will affect Baltika. After that, there will be either a "continuation of the banquet" or a recession. Both options are equally possible. But for now, we can be happy for our Leicester.

Dynamo is the main disappointment

In July, Dmitry Gafin, ex-chairman of the Dynamo Board of Directors, named a clear goal for the season — to win a trophy. The RPL championship or the Russian Cup is not important.

So far, Dynamo is closer to the second goal. In the first match of the 1/4 finals of the RPL, the blue and white beat Zenit at Gazprom Arena. 3-1 is a good start for the return leg in front of their fans in Moscow.

Perhaps Valery Karpin should focus on the national cup. There already seems to be nothing to catch in the championship. There is a complete failure: 17 points and 10th place. For a club with such a history, this is not even a failure, but a real nightmare.

With Karpin, Dynamo got off to the worst start in the RPL in the last 19 (!) years. The previous record was held by Yuri Semin, who scored 10 points in 15 games in the 2006 season. And after that, Yuri Palych left the team... 23 goals conceded was also a disaster. The worst result since 2001 was 26 missed games.

"Everyone hates Spartak's head coach, Deyan Stankovich, even if he wins (the red-Whites have won four of their last five matches)," Sergei Tashuev, former coach of Akhmat and Fakel, told Izvestia. — And look at the results of Valery Karpin at Dynamo. And what do we hear? "He still needs to be given time to work, he is one of our best specialists." Something like that, right? Isn't that a double standard? It still determines the result.

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Vladimir Putin outlined ways to develop physical education for children and youth, the RPL reported on the increase in attendance, and ministers from several countries discussed international cooperation.

Interestingly, according to the results of the first round, Valery Karpin's team is ahead of Jonathan Alba's Rostov. Ironically, it was the Spaniard who replaced Karpin at the Rostov club, having previously worked with him as an assistant. And now it turns out that "the student has surpassed the teacher."

Over the course of the season, Dynamo's objectives have changed. But first of all, because the leadership has changed: Alexander Ivlev took Gafin's place. And now there are no more "trophies" for you — from now on you need to create "a real leading club that will delight us all with a good, high-quality and, importantly, stable game."

It sounds abstract. Perhaps because they don't really believe that it's possible to reach heights with Karpin this season. Therefore, the question of the fate of the coach of the Russian national team in Petrovsky Park can be considered open.… Or not?