Exchange rate: what to expect from the transitional matches between the RPL and the First League

The 2025/26 season in the Russian Premier League is officially over - Zenit has won gold medals for the 11th time. However, the intrigue in the struggle for places in the elite of domestic football remains. Four transitional matches between the RPL and First League clubs will take place this week, following which the final composition of the championship participants for the next season will be announced. Dynamo Makhachkala and Ural and Akron and Rotor will compete for the right to play in the Premier League.

Ural – Dynamo Makhachkala

First match: May 20, Yekaterinburg (17:30 Moscow time)

Second leg: May 23, Makhachkala (16:00 Moscow time)

Dynamo Makhachkala unsuccessfully held the spring part of the championship, hence the fall into the joint zone. In the 12 matches of the spring, Vadim Evseev's team scored only two victories. Moreover, at the very beginning of the spring segment: on February 28, Makhachkala defeated Rubin Kazan (2:1), and on March 13, Orenburg (1:0).

Otherwise, everything was so-so: five draws and five defeats. And what is important: during the spring part of the RPL, Dynamo did not win a single away victory — Rubin and Orenburg were beaten in Makhachkala.

As a result: 14th place and 26 points - literally on the border between the zones of guaranteed residence permit and direct relegation to the First League. Dynamo was separated from 12th and 15th places by three points. So the aftertaste from the players, the coaching staff and the fans is probably mixed.

But now Dynamo Makhachkala has a completely different task in terms of attitude: to defend its place in the RPL following the results of the two-match confrontation with Ural. On the one hand, it's already easier than starting from a long—range scenario in a competition with 15 league teams - just beat one team by the sum of two matches and go on vacation with a sense of accomplishment.

But it will not be so easy to do this. Ural, led by CSKA legend Vasily Berezutsky, confidently took third place at the end of the First League season (61 points), breaking away from fifth place by as many as 12 points. But Ural was seven points short of direct promotion.

In the spring part of the season, Yekaterinburg played 13 matches: they won six, drew twice and lost five times. Not the best result for the team, which, along with Fakel, was initially considered by many to be the main contender for entry into the RPL. As a result, "their place" was taken by the Moscow Rodina.

Nevertheless, Ural is approaching the transition matches with Dynamo in a better playing form: three wins and two losses in the last five matches. Makhachkala residents have three draws and two defeats during this period. Despite the fact that only two rivals of the Dagestani team were from the "top" category — Krasnodar and Spartak.

In many ways, the outcome of a two-match standoff can be influenced by the play of the attackers of both teams. The main striking force of the RPL representative is the 25—year-old central striker Hamid Agalarov, who scored seven goals in the last championship. It is symbolic that the top scorer scored the same seven goals in the Urals. However, two players can boast of such an achievement in the Yekaterinburg club: 27-year-old Croatian central striker Martin Sekulic and 34-year-old attacking midfielder Roman Akbashev.

According to the way both teams finished this season, Ural is approaching the match with Dynamo with a slight favorite.

Zenit of Glory: Russian Championship gold returns to St. Petersburg

Semak's team dealt with Rostov pragmatically, Loko retained the bronze medal, although it lost, and Tolyatti and Makhachkala went to the joints.

"Rotor" – "Akron"

First match: May 20, Volgograd (19:30 Moscow time)

Second leg: May 23, Samara (18:30 Moscow time)

Another representative of RPL-2025/25, Tolyatti Akron, was not so rosy either. A couple of rounds before the end of the championship, the red-blacks mathematically risked falling into the direct relegation zone, to 15th place. All because of the disastrous spring: in 12 matches, Akron won only one victory (1-0 over Baltika away), and there were almost three times more defeats than draws — eight against three.

The climax of the spring nightmare was the defeat in the regional derby by Krylia Sovetov in the last round (1-4). Not only did Krylia score all four goals in the first half, but the outcome of this match also had a direct impact on Akron's fate — defeat a principled opponent, and there will be no "joints". But it didn't work out.

This defeat was a verdict for the head coach of the team Zaur Tedeev, who has worked at Akron since December 2023. By the decision of the management, one of Tedeev's staff members, 53-year-old Murat Iskakov, who holds a PRO license, prepares the team for the play-off matches. Prior to Akron, Iskakov worked as an assistant to Vladimir Fedotov at Sochi and CSKA, as well as head coach at Tambov and Avangard Kursk.

The Rotor ascended to the docking zone thanks to Dmitry Parfenov, who led the team on December 1, 2025. In the spring, Volgograd suffered only one defeat (0:1 against Ufa) in 13 matches and drew five times.

Two 27-year-old strikers, who scored seven goals each, made a significant contribution to the final success of Rotor: Ilya Safronov and Said Aliyev, as well as 31-year-old goalkeeper Nikita Chagrov, who became the best in the 2025/26 First League in terms of the number of "dry" matches (17).

As for the leaders of Akron, Tolyatti residents should count on the experienced Artem Dzyuba, who became the team's top scorer in the RPL with eight goals (and this at the age of 37!), 24-year-old striker Benschimola (6 goals), who was called up to the Cape Verdean national team for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, as well as the young talent, 19-year-old Dmitry Pestryakov, who scored 5+4 points in the goal+pass system in 29 RPL matches.

Tedeev's dismissal may turn out to be a good emotional shake-up for the Akron players. And before the decisive play-off matches, where the fate of their registration in the elite for the next season will be decided, such a move from the leadership may benefit. In addition, Akron's line of attack is seen as more powerful than that of the Rotor. If the Volgograd team does not achieve a landslide victory in front of their fans, then the probability of final success will not be very high.

So far, Akron's chances of remaining in the RPL can be assessed as fairly confident. But it is possible that after the first match in Volgograd, everything may turn upside down. And then, instead of one stadium of the 2018 World Cup, another will "enter": the 45,000–seat Volgograd Arena will replace the Samara Arena, where Akron played. Perhaps neutral football fans will like this situation more than watching a team that is playing home matches in a different city.