Dom Romanov: will the new Spartak coach win the second derby in a row

In the Russian Football Cup, the return matches of the RPL Path quarterfinals are taking place this week, where clubs still have the advantage in three out of four pairs, from which not everyone expected this before the start of the playoffs of the tournament. Spartak won the Moscow derby against Lokomotiv in early November (3:1), and now they will try to keep this advantage on November 26 and go further. On the same day, Dynamo Makhachkala will have to try to consolidate the winning result of the first meeting (1-0) following the results of the away match with CSKA Moscow. A day later, Dynamo Moscow will also try to beat Zenit St. Petersburg following the results of the home game — the blue and white won the first match 3:1. So far, the situation looks predictable only in the confrontation between Krasnodar and Orenburg - the southern club prevailed in the first game 3:1.

Lokomotiv – Spartak

The victorious first cup match was the penultimate one for Spartak under the leadership of head coach Deyan Stankovich. Three days after that meeting, the red-whites won 2-1 against Akhmat Grozny in the national championship, and after the final whistle, the Serbian specialist snapped at a Match TV reporter during a flash interview, outraged by his question about the conflict with the referee on the sidelines.

Stankovich also made statements after the cup victory over Loko, saying at a press conference that he was tired and wanted to go to his wife and daughter. His wish was fulfilled by the club's management two days after leaving for Grozny: Deyan was dismissed. This was expected against the background of his disastrous results in a year and a half of work — fourth place in the last championship and an interim sixth in the current one.

However, he was fired after he won four out of five matches in two tournaments. But this did not affect the championship standings in any way. And, most likely, the resignation was caused by the emotional breakdowns of the Serb. Moreover, according to media reports, the club started looking for a replacement for him in the first half of autumn.

Vadim Romanov, who had been assisting Stankovich since the summer of last year and had led Spartak's youth team for two seasons before that, became the acting head coach. The 47-year-old specialist made his debut in this position with a victory in the crucial Moscow derby over CSKA Moscow (1-0), held last weekend as part of the 16th round of the championship.

Now Romanov will have to repeat his success in another derby in order to preserve Stankovich's only positive legacy — the chance to reach the semifinals of the "RPL Way" of the Russian Cup. This will be countered by Loko, which is doing well in the championship, but risks being relegated to the "Path of the Regions" of the Cup.

— I am sure we will prepare well for the match and remember the game of Lokomotiv, how it played against us relatively recently in two previous meetings (in the summer, Loko won the championship against Spartak with a score of 4:2. — Izvestia), — Spartak defender Daniil Denisov told the publication. — Now it is important to consolidate the success with CSKA and continue the positive movement that we have.

Loko drew 1-1 at home in the championship with tournament leader Krasnodar on Sunday and retained fourth place, three points behind the first. The Railwaymen are still in the race for gold, but they are having difficulties in the Cup.

— The team can completely win back in the confrontation with Spartak, although it will not be easy to do so, — Nikolai Naumov, former president of Lokomotiv, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — In terms of the quality of the game, the same match with Krasnodar was higher than the Spartak derby with CSKA. Therefore, the organization of the game and the current level of Loko allow him to count on a two-goal victory over his upcoming opponent and a chance to go further in the "RPL Path". Moreover, historically, Lokomotiv is a cup team. The only question is whether Spartak has enough spirit and dedication to repeat the feat of the derby with CSKA and keep the advantage in the Cup.

"I don't want to go back to the first league"

Goalkeeper of the Russian youth national team and Sochi Alexander Degtev — about friendly matches, the struggle for survival in the Russian Premier League, working with the former coach of the Spanish national team and talking with Arshavin

Dynamo (Moscow) – Zenit

Like Spartak, Dynamo Moscow also played their first match after the change of head coach last weekend. At the beginning of last week, Valery Karpin left this post, citing the need to focus on his work with the Russian national team, where he has held a similar position since 2021. He was replaced by Rolan Gusev at Dynamo.

Shortly before the first match after this castling, the leadership of the blue and white met with the team. In a video of the conversation posted by the club's press service on social media, Sergei Stepashin, a member of the Dynamo board of directors, said that Gusev would remain head coach on a permanent basis if he won four matches - that was how many remained to be played before the winter break.

He managed to win his first victory: in the last 16th round of the championship, Dynamo Moscow defeated Dynamo Makhachkala at home (3:0). The second leg of the Cup with Zenit remains ahead, as well as two championship meetings — away with Akhmat Grozny and the Moscow derby with Spartak.

However, Stepashin did not specify what would happen if Dynamo lost at home to Zenit on Thursday evening, but went further in the "RPL Path" of the Cup. And this option is possible, since the blue and white won the first game in St. Petersburg with a score of 3:1 - this is perhaps the only unconditional success of the team under Karpin's leadership in six months of his work. To go further, it is enough for Dynamo not to lose with a difference of more than one goal.

This is quite an achievable task with the current Zenit, which is in the group of leaders of the championship, one point behind the first place, but with great difficulty defeating not the strongest teams. And he had serious problems with Dynamo in the Cup.

—Dynamo has a good chance to hold the advantage in the confrontation with Zenit and go further," Sergei Silkin, the former head coach of the blue and white team, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — It is clear from the match with Makhachkala that under Gusev the team has relaxed and is acting more confidently. And if we recall how selflessly she played in the spring, when Roland was already acting head coach after Marcel Lichka's dismissal, we can say that it will be very difficult for Zenit to win back two goals. Especially if he doesn't play with the most basic team again.

CSKA Moscow – Dynamo (Makhachkala)

Both teams played the first match as non-core squads, but this did not prevent the Dagestani club, which was inferior to the Army team in the class, from creating a sensation and winning at home with a score of 1:0. Moreover, Dynamo had chances to score more, but could not increase the advantage.

Now he needs to keep this groundwork on Wednesday at a party. If this happens, CSKA will be on the verge of losing the trophy. It was the red and blue team that won the last Russian Cup. But in case of relegation to the "Path of the Regions", one defeat will force them to resign as the current winner of the tournament.

After the defeat in the derby by Spartak, the Army team remained in the group of leaders of the championship, one point behind the first line. But this misfire made it more difficult for them to fight for the trophy. Especially against the background of the fact that victories in previous matches over teams from the bottom of the table were quite difficult for Fabio Celestini's wards. In particular, in the away match of the championship against Dynamo Makhachkala, which was minimally won 1-0 three days after the cup failure in the capital of Dagestan.

A lot will depend on which squads the head coaches of both teams will field. Both CSKA and Dynamo in the Russian Cup mostly play either as reserves or mixed squads. At the same time, it seems that the residents of Makhachkala have a better chance of holding the advantage if they come out as the base.

"We will play as a base against CSKA," Shamil Gazizov, general director of the Dagestan club, told Izvestia after the game with Dynamo Moscow. — We expect only victory from the second leg. We will do everything for success to go further in the "RPL Path" of the Cup.

Substitution culture: the successes of Spartak and Dynamo without Stankovich and Karpin

After the dismissals of the head coaches, the red and white won the derby against CSKA, and the blue and white prevailed over their Makhachkala teammates.

Krasnodar – Orenburg

Orenburg failed the first round, which led to a change of head coach. In early October, Vladimir Slishkovich was replaced by Ildar Akhmetzyanov, who had previously worked successfully in the first league for several years at the head of KAMAZ from Naberezhnye Chelny, keeping the young team with a small budget at the top of the standings.

Under him, in the first five matches of the championship, the team won one victory, achieved two draws and was defeated twice. Her game has improved slightly, but so far Orenburg is only in 14th place in the transition zone with a four-point handicap ahead of the direct relegation zone from the RPL.

Against this background, the club was able to get out of the Russian Cup group from the second place in the RPL Path playoffs, but it was obvious that it would be difficult for it to compete with Krasnodar. As a result, the RPL leader and the reigning champion of the country confidently won the first match 3-1 away and, with a high degree of probability, will go further, and Orenburg will embark on the "Path of the Regions" and at the same time focus on the fight for survival in the Premier League championship.

Four matches of the first stage of the "Paths of the Regions" quarterfinals are also taking place this week. In this grid, all stages of the confrontation consist of one game, not two, as in the "RPL Path". The "Path of the Regions" features teams from lower leagues, and this week they were joined by representatives of the RPL, who took third place in their groups.

On Tuesday, November 25, Torpedo Moscow, which is at the bottom of the first league table, played at home with Baltika Kaliningrad, which unexpectedly appeared in the top five of the RPL. The average man of the first league Tula Arsenal hosted the average man of the RPL Kazan Rubin.

On Wednesday, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, which is in the middle of the first league table, will host Rostov, which plays in the Premier League. And on Thursday, KAMAZ from Naberezhnye Chelny is waiting for the Samara Wings of the Soviets to visit.