Time first: group winners can be determined in the Russian Cup

This week, the fourth round matches will be held in the "RPL Path" of the Russian Cup, following which the first participants of the playoffs of the tournament may become known. The most interesting matches in the four groups will be the confrontations of Zenit St. Petersburg with Akhmat Grozny, Krylia Sovetov Samara with Krasnodar and Spartak with Rostov.

Group A

Zenit St. Petersburg is confidently leading its quartet after half of the matches played. The blue-white-Blues won all three opening meetings and almost secured entry into the RPL Path playoffs from the first place. To do this, it will be enough for them not to lose at home to Akhmat in the next match.

Interestingly, Zenit suffered its only defeat this season from the Grozny club. On August 9, in the fourth round of the Russian championship, Akhmat won at home against a club from the Northern Capital with a score of 1:0. In many ways, it was this match that influenced the fact that Sergei Semak's team is not doing well in the national championship right now — sixth place after eight rounds and six points behind the leading Krasnodar. But mostly it happens because of the large number of draws.

And there was only one loss in the championship and the Cup — in that match in Grozny. Who became the first head of Akhmat for Stanislav Cherchesov. Having successfully started working in the team, its current head coach still does not lose in the championship, lifting the Chechen team from the bottom of the table to tenth place. In just five rounds of the RPL under Cherchesov, Akhmat has two wins and three draws.

Interestingly, he suffered his first and so far only defeat in his new position in the Russian Cup — it was an away match with Orenburg (1:2). But then he won at home against Rubin Kazan (2:0). And Akhmat lost the first game at home to Zenit (1:2) even before Cherchesov, under his predecessor Alexander Storozhuk. Thus, the Grozny team has three points after three rounds, the same number as Rubin and Orenburg, who will play against each other this week on the Orenburg team's home field.

— As usual, a lot of things in the upcoming Cup matches at the group stage will depend on the scale of the coaches' rotation for this tournament, — Anatoly Byshovets, former Zenit head coach, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — But the St. Petersburg club still has an advantage due to a better selection of players and a long bench. Those who remain in Zenit's reserves in the championship could be permanently at the core of many other teams. That's what they prove when they are released on the field in the Cup, where they also have the motivation to show their right to play in the base and in the RPL. Against this background, Akhmat can achieve victory if it comes out with the same squad that Cherchesov is currently leading his unbeaten streak in the championship. If he also decides to rotate for the Cup, then the Grozny team has few chances.

Group B

Valery Karpin unsuccessfully started his job as the head coach of Dynamo Moscow. In the Russian championship, it is in ninth place after eight rounds, far behind the first place. Things are not much better for the blue and white in the Cup either. After half of the group stage, they are in third place and risk being left without the "Path of the RPL" playoffs - this position gives them a ticket only to the "Path of the Regions" playoffs.

Dynamo barely managed to beat Sochi, which was in last place in both tournaments, at home (3:2), but then there was a crushing home defeat against Krasnodar (0:4) and an away loss to Samara Krylia Sovetov in a penalty shootout (4:5) after a draw in regular time (0:0). Dynamo is two points behind the leaders Krylia and Krasnodar, who will play against each other in Samara.

The Volga team has already scored an away victory over the Bulls (2:1) in this Cup. The winner of their upcoming match will seriously increase their chances of continuing to fight in the "RPL Way" already in the playoffs. Especially if Dynamo does not win the next away match against Sochi.

The Southern club performed catastrophically in the first part of the season. It is especially worth noting that in the first eight rounds of the championship he scored only one point. But it was scored precisely in the game with Dynamo (1-1) — at home in the fourth round. Now these teams will meet on the Sochi home field in the Cup. Sochi recently had a new head coach, replacing Robert Moreno with Igor Osinkin. In his debut match, the team lost the away league match against Krylia (0:2).

"This is one of the most unpredictable groups in the current Cup draw," Maxim Demenko, a former Krasnodar and Sochi Zhemchuzhina midfielder, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — So far, Krylia and Krasnodar look like favorites in all respects. It is no coincidence that they are also successful in the championship. Krasnodar, as the current champion and the leader of the current draw, looks like the favorite of the group and the upcoming match. He may not release the main squad, but as the crushing victory over Dynamo showed, even Murad Musayev's reserve team is strong. However, Samara is now in such a state that it can beat anyone, although the absence of its leader Vadim Rakov due to injury may affect it. As for the second match of the round in the group, it is not known how much Osinkin is now ready to fight at all costs to continue playing in the Cup. Perhaps Sochi will focus on the fight for survival in the championship and release a second squad against Dynamo, then Karpin's team will definitely win.

Group C

Spartak got into a quartet with three teams fighting for survival in the championship. But even in this scenario, he managed to lose points, losing at home on penalties (3:4) to Dynamo Makhachkala after a draw in regular time (1:1). The red-whites managed to win quite easily against Rostov away (2:0) and Pari Nizhny Novgorod at home (4:0). Now they will host Rostov residents in their field. So far, Deyan Stankovich's team is in second place, one point behind the Makhachkala team.

At the same time, they are stuck in the middle of the table and in the championship. Dynamo Makhachkala, in turn, is gaining points in the national championship as best it can and is out of the relegation zone and transitional matches, which is a success for the lowest-budget club in the Premier League. To the surprise of many, the wards of Hasanbi Bijiyev are leading in their cup group.

In the next round, they will have to travel to Pari Nizhny Novgorod, which will host rivals on neutral fields until October due to renovation work at its stadium. The next Cup meeting will be held in Saransk. If Dynamo Makhachkala wins, it will ensure its entry into the playoffs of the "RPL Path". Spartak will do the same if they win at home against Rostov on Thursday, who unexpectedly won 1-0 against CSKA in the last match of the championship and got out of the relegation zone.

—Spartak, as usual, seems to be the favorite of the match and the group, but no one can ever be sure that the team will not suddenly stumble at the most unexpected moment," Andrei Chervichenko, the former owner of the red and white, told Izvestia. — Moreover, in the last championship match against Dynamo Moscow, Stankovich started freaking out again, having earned a ban for insulting the referees, although recently he seemed to have calmed down and the club's results immediately improved. So, even if the reserves come out, Spartak is definitely stronger than Rostov, but the Don club can take advantage of the hassle of the opposing coach, which is transferred to the team, and win, especially now when the players are on a positive wave after the victory over CSKA. As for Dynamo Makhachkala, it looks more organized and motivated than Pari Nizhny Novgorod, even though it won the last championship match against Orenburg (3:1). And it is unlikely that the Dagestani club will miss the chance to secure a way out of the group.

Group D

Two Moscow top clubs, CSKA and Lokomotiv, are expected to lead this quartet. Slightly behind them is Tolyatti Akron, which is good in the Cup, but unexpectedly failed to start the championship, where it is in the penultimate, 15th place in the relegation zone.

Another paradox is that the main sensation of the championship, Kaliningrad Baltika, is completely failing the Cup. If Andrey Talalaev's team did not lose any of the eight opening matches in the championship and are in third place, then in the Cup they lost all three meetings and are last with zero points, being almost doomed to relegation from the tournament. This can be explained by the fact that the team does not play with the main squad.

And it is unknown whether Baltika will release its strongest players in the next Cup away match against CSKA. In turn, Akron, which will host Loko at home, is also unlikely to be a base given its difficulties in the championship.

"Given how Baltika plays as a reserve in the Cup, and Akron will have to throw its main forces into the fight for survival in the championship, it is unlikely that these teams will hold on strongly to the second most important tournament in the country," Nikolai Naumov, former president of Lokomotiv, told Izvestia. — Therefore, in the upcoming matches, it is unlikely that anything will prevent CSKA and Loko from winning. And, most likely, they will secure their entry into the RPL Path playoffs this week. And in the remaining two rounds, the intrigue will be in which of them will come out of first place, as well as in the struggle of Akron and Baltika for third place and entry into the Path of the Regions playoffs.

The matches of the fourth round of the group stage of the Russian Cup will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.