“Spartak” – CSKA, “Krasnodar” – “Rostov”: which of the leaders will win?

Athletistic/ Football. In the 28th round of the Russian championship, “Spartak” will play with CSKA, and “Krasnodar” will meet “Rostov”.

“Spartak” M – CSKA

On Sunday, May 21, Spartak will play at home against CSKA. It’s a key game in the fight for medals and especially second place. Victory guarantees the army team medals and, with high probability, second place. At the same time, the guests will be content with a draw. In this scenario, Spartak’s comfortable four-point margin will remain two laps from the finish line. The red-whites will only be satisfied with a victory. Spartak fails in 2023 under the management of Guillermo Abascal. The club are ninth in the table when post-break games are included. “Spartak” did not win any matches against big teams, could not take three points in any away matches. The defense has become a big nightmare for the technical staff and the club’s supporters. The red-whites have conceded only one match in the last ten – against Akhmat. At the same time, they lost points in the match with the Grozny club.

It was expected that “Spartacus” before the game against CSKA would cheer up with an easy victory over “Khimki”, but even with a hopeless underdog he had to suffer. The team first missed, then also suffered from the withdrawal of Denisov. Spartak players complain about the referees after almost every game, but the problems of lack of results run much deeper. The team seems to get worse and worse towards the end of the season. The difficulties of the defense have not been resolved. In attack, the club has not shone for a long time either. Abascal changes combinations and players every game. More and more rumors about the resignation of the coach. In CSKA, the situation is completely opposite. The coach built his own proprietary system, which was in Sochi. Vladimir Fedotov has stability in the starting lineup. Each player knows his move. CSKA is the best club in 2023, even Zenit is behind. The team scored 25 out of a possible 30 points. Moreover, by a margin, she reached the final of the Russian Cup. While second place and the trophy are expected – a great season.

CSKA gained confidence in him. Recent victories won in the class. So far, the team has won four consecutive matches. In particular, the houses were smashed “Orenburg” and defeated “Torpedo”. Another indicator of a coach is the individual achievements of the players. Chalov broke his personal goalscoring record for the season, Oblyakov received the best player award in April as part of the RPL. It is all the more surprising that the bookmakers place Spartak as favorites of the match. The red and white are now inferior to CSKA in all game indicators. The main advantage of the army team is the coach. In the first round, Spartak were at their peak and CSKA were suffering, but even then Fedotov lined up the players correctly for the derby. It now makes sense to assume that the Army team will dictate their terms.

Krasnodar-Rostov

On Wednesday, May 17, Krasnodar will host Rostov at home in the southern derby. The “bulls” no longer have serious tasks in the Russian championship. The team is now only preparing for the Russian Cup final. “Rostov”, on the contrary, keeps good chances of medals. Valery Karpin’s wards really need a win to stay in the top three two rounds before the tournament ends.

“Krasnodar” has already set itself important priorities. Several key players did not travel to Saint Petersburg for the game against Zenit. But with the “Urals” in the Cup of Russia have already played all the strongest. Wards of Vladimir Ivic won a heavy victory, leaving a lot of strength. There will be little time to recover. It is possible that the technical staff does not weigh once again on the leaders. At the slightest suspicion, reservists are used. Fortunately, they showed themselves very well in St. Petersburg. Krasnodar almost spoiled the celebratory match “Zenith”. The “Bulls” did not have a few minutes to keep the victory. Otherwise, Krasnodar has gained the necessary power to the finish line. Coach Ivic managed to assemble a battle-ready backbone and unite the players. Now Krasnodar has quite an eminent team by name, considering the current level of the RPL. Cordoba got back into fighting shape, Spertsyan is having a historic season, performing more than twenty effective actions. Survived an unpleasant decline Matvey Safonov. The only problem in the Russian league now is the lack of motivation. “Rostov”, on the contrary, is on the decline. Wards of Valery Karpin suffered two defeats in games where no one expected such a result. First buried in the “bus” Fakel in his field, conceding two goals. Then they lost to Sochi, who were unmotivated. Unfortunately for the Southerners, both losses were completely on the case. Sochi left almost nothing to the opponent claiming the medals. Another bad news for Rostov is Nikolai Komlichenko’s injury. The striker is the backbone of the team. In fact, there is no one to change it. Karpin will have to rebuild the whole game. Add to that Utkin’s poor form. This tandem was a key breakthrough in “Rostov” in the first part of the season. At the same time, “Rostov” has three games of medals and perfectly controls the situation.

Karpin is a great motivator, but players still have an edge in terms of freshness and emotional mood. The status of a kind of southern derby is also important. If we take official matches, rivals almost always score against each other. At the same time, another scenario is likely. Rostov has limited attacking potential, Krasnodar emotionally emasculated the players after the Cup. It is unlikely to see open football without a central pitch.

Andrey Andreev, Sport.Ru