All for a restart: the main intrigues of the first round of the RPL after the winter break

The Russian Premier League returns after the winter break. On Friday, February 27, the 19th round starts in St. Petersburg, where Zenit will host Kaliningrad Baltic. Sergey Semak's team is one of the favorites of the championship race along with Krasnodar, Lokomotiv and CSKA. So special attention will be focused on the matches involving these four in the next round. Anyway, I'm curious how the players will enter the season after the long winter training camps. Including beginners.

Zenit – Baltika

The once champion of six consecutive seasons enters the spring stage of the championship with the unusual task of regaining the RPL trophy lost last year. At the end of the 2024/25 season, Krasnodar became the national champion for the first time in its history, while Zenit was content with only second place. The teams went on a winter break with similar layouts: after 18 rounds, Krasnodar is in the lead with 40 points, and St. Petersburg, with 39 points, are ranked lower.

However, the first spring obstacle in Zenit's path will not be easy. Baltika is probably the main opening of the autumn part of the season. Andrey Talalaev's team unexpectedly entered the top 5 of the championship, leaving behind such giants of Russian football as Spartak and Dynamo Moscow. And this is with the 12th (!) squad in the league in terms of the total value of all players (€27.2 million, according to the Transfermarkt portal).

However, now Baltika has been left without one of its leaders — 22-year-old midfielder Vladislav Saus joined Spartak for €3.8 million. But otherwise, Kaliningrad did not suffer any serious losses, which means that the team can surprise everyone in the spring. Including in the match against Zenit. By the way, in the first round game in Kaliningrad, everything ended in a goalless draw, although Baltika could sensationally win at the end of the meeting. So the blue-white-blues definitely won't have an easy walk around the Gazprom Arena. Even despite the reinforcements in the person of defender Igor Diveev, midfielder John John and striker John Duran. Let's see how they perform in the first official match for the new team.

Krasnodar – Rostov

In September 2025, Rostov and Krasnodar scored a dismal 0-0. But it was on the banks of the Don. There is a feeling that the game will go very differently in Krasnodar. Firstly, the emotions of returning to official matches should be overwhelming. Secondly, there is no time to build up: in the spring it is necessary to solve the tasks set without failures, so that competitors do not take advantage of this. In particular, Zenit.

This winter, Krasnodar acquired only one football player — 26-year-old Uruguayan striker Juan Boselli was bought from Paris NN for 650 thousand euros. Now the Bulls have a good substitute for John Cordoba. There were also losses, but looking at the autumn part of the season, these losses do not seem significant: Gaetan Perrin, who failed in Russia, returned to France, and 21-year-old Danila Kozlov, who did not really play in the championship, became a CSKA player.

As for Rostov, their composition has not changed over the winter. With him, Jonathan Alba will strengthen the team's position in the second eight of the Russian Premier League in order not to slip into the zone of transitional matches. So far, Rostov residents are 11th, with a six—point lead from the same joint zone.

But for the summer, one high-profile departure from Rostov has already been officially announced, which just adds intrigue to the upcoming confrontation with Krasnodar. By the beginning of the 2026/27 season, defender Ilya Vakhania will become a Bulls player. It will be interesting to watch his game — will Vakhaniya show his best qualities to clearly justify his transfer, or will he not burden his future teammates too much.

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Akhmat – CSKA

The match against Akhmat will be the first serious test for CSKA newcomers — defender Mateus Reis, midfielders Dmitry Barinov and Danila Kozlov, as well as striker Luciano Gonda. But, in fact, only Brazilian Reis, who transferred as a free agent from Portuguese Sporting, needs to adapt — the rest are perfectly familiar with the realities of the RPL. The only question is how Fabio Celestini, the head coach of the Army, will integrate the new players into the scheme.

At the same time, CSKA has a great opportunity to get close to the first line. After 18 rounds, the red and blue are in fourth place, but they are only four points behind Krasnodar. Given CSKA's vibrant transfer campaign and the number of players they have formed, their rivals should be afraid of the army in the spring.

However, Akhmat does not look like the kind of team that is afraid of someone or something. Stanislav Cherchesov's players are ready to give battle to any RPL club. Besides, at home, where it's never easy for rivals. The Grozny club, which is on the eighth line, may well aim to get into the top 6 at the end of the season - the gap from Spartak, which is sixth, is only seven points. It is quite possible to win back such a difference. It is possible that Akhmat will take away points from CSKA in the first match after the winter break.

What else will be on the tour?

The confrontation between Orenburg and Akron promises to be interesting. Zaur Tedeev's team, led by Artyom Dzyuba, will try to climb into the top eight and stay there until the end of the season, while Ildar Akhmetzyanov's team needs to crawl out of the direct relegation zone. And ideally, avoid the play—off zone. Orenburg is currently five points away from the salvageable 12th place.

Alexey Shpilevsky's Pari NN has a similar task to Orenburg. Nizhny Novgorod is in 14th place, two points ahead of Orenburg. So you need to score points in order not to slip into the danger zone. However, it will be difficult to do this in the away match against Lokomotiv. The Railwaymen are generally in third place in the fight for the championship, losing three points to the leading Krasnodar. It's too early to relax.

The match Dynamo (Makhachkala) – Rubin can be dubbed as a battle of new head coaches. In winter, the Dagestan club was led by Vadim Evseev, and Rubin was led by Spaniard Frank Artiga. Both of them will probably want to show themselves in all their glory right away, so we can expect a bright, double-edged game. It is possible that everything will end in a draw.

The Sochi–Spartak match will also feature a coaching debut. Moreover, the debut is generally in Russia. This will be the first official game of the Moscow club under the leadership of Spaniard Juan Carcedo. Meeting with the last team of the championship is a great opportunity for him to start his career at Spartak with a victory.

Rolan Gusev's name has not been new in RPL coaching circles for a long time, but the match with Krylia Sovetov will mark his debut as a full-fledged Dynamo head coach. Without the prefix "acting". Gusev lost her on December 23, when the leadership of the blue and white confirmed former assistant Marcel Lichka and Valery Karpin in charge until the end of the season. This is a kind of exam for him: if he lifts Dynamo from 10th place, he can remain in charge. To do this, you need to score points from the very first game — against the Samara Wings, which are close to the junction zone.