The Battle for Second Place: The Main Intrigue of the Russian Championship

The main question of the end of this championship of Russia is who will take the silver?

If you are not a fan “Zenith”then for the last five years it was probably more interesting for you to follow the struggle for second place in RPLthan to wait for the embers of the championship intrigue to miraculously flare up and blaze again. Our league is not unique in this – in Germany, since the days of Klopp’s Borussia, they have already become accustomed to seeing a silver salad bowl in the hands of the Bayern captain in the spring, Juventus marched in Italy with a victorious pace for a decade.

Karpin kept Zenit. But a draw brought the champion closer to a new title

Yes, we have Zenit, which a priori from year to year remains the main contender for gold. Yes, the intensity of the fight between the top clubs is not the same as it was at least in the mid-2010s. But the race for second place, remaining, in fact, the main intrigue of the RPL, cannot but attract attention. Especially storylines here bless you.

Let’s be honest, the level of the Russian championship is declining. First of all, because of the departure of skilled legionnaires. It is indicative that under the new conditions, three purely coaching teams are fighting for second place, in which the work of the system is quoted higher than the individual skills of the players. And, perhaps, to subordinate everything to tactical discipline in the absence of a large number of great performers is a completely logical step.

CSKA is eager for silver: a new victim – “Ural” Goncharenko

CSKA, after the arrival of Vladimir Fedotov, plays according to the same scheme that the coach used back in Sochi. In the first part of the season, the mechanisms were slowly debugged, which affected the stability of the score. But in the spring segment, the army team had five wins in six RPL matches, and in the meeting with the strong Ural, the red and blue showed two things – due to which they are ready to break into a rich defense and keep the desired result. It already looks like maturity.

Igor Akinfeev.

CSKA press office

Well, the story of Jorge Carrascal, the most expensive army man according to transfermarkt.de, is indicative – 8 million euros. A skilled but undisciplined Colombian reappears on the field only from the bench, which once again demonstrates what moments Fedotov is betting on.

Spartak before the restart seemed to be the main contender for the second line. Guillermo Abascal even got used to the new league too quickly and set the right settings for the team, which gave the red-and-whites a bright autumn segment. But after the restart, the main thing was gone – confidence. Abascal darted between different tactical formations, Sobolev’s balls did not go into the goal for too long (and those that went were canceled by the judges), long-standing problems in the support zone resurfaced. Derby with “Torpedo” has become absurd in the full sense of the word, although, in my opinion, all three penalty kicks, as well as the removal of Martins and Litvinov, are fully justified.

By the way, this is the second red-white match in a row, to which the adjective “absurd” is applicable. Twice, maybe a coincidence. But if Spartak turns out to be just as lax in the next round, it’s time to talk about a gaming crisis. In the meantime, for the second time in a row, the Abascal team comes up with problems for itself out of the blue.

Spartak players in the match against Torpedo.

Alexander Fedorov, Photo “SE”

“Rostov” against “Zenith” showed, due to which it is so stable this season and is not inferior to clubs with more experienced and classy squads. The strength of the Donetsk team is also in a clear system of interactions. Like Abascal, Valery Karpin rotates the schemes, but the southerners seem to carry out these transitions more smoothly than the Spartacists. In any case, there is no impression that the players do not know what to do on the field with different tactical orientations.

“Rostov” left a huge number of legionnaires, so Karpin is no longer so dependent on individuals. The only exception, perhaps, is Komlichenko, who both scores and earns some fantastic number of penalties. The game against Zenit, for example, was skipped by Daniil Utkin and Dmitry Poloz, one of the leaders. But even without them, the Pitmen not only neutralized the champion’s attack (only the third match in the RPL-2022/23, in which the St. Petersburg team failed to score), but also created a number of chances at the opponent’s goal.

Another crazy derby for Spartak, CSKA’s fifth victory in a row, Krasnodar’s spring attack hurricane. Rabiner on Saturday’s matches

This is another reason to praise Karpin, whom many scold for the fact that he arranges a review of players for the future from friendly matches of national teams. But let’s keep in mind that at the club level, the coach shows how he is able to build working football structures with a very limited squad. Rostov is the best in our league in squeezing out results – 11 out of 13 victories in this championship were won with a minimum difference in the score, in terms of expected goals and points, the club takes 8th and 9th places, respectively. In a short period, one could talk about luck, but the second line after 23 rounds already hints that this is at least not the only thing.

Through the round, on April 29, Spartak and Rostov must find out which of them is the main contender for silver. There is no doubt that here, if not all, then a lot will be determined by whose system works better and more stable. It looks like this is a new RPL trend.