Champions League hunt: Amkar Perm’

In our ongoing series of the hunt of Champions League we’ve looked at Rubin Kazan, Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow. With only three spots available for Champions League the competition will be tight and it’s time to turn our attention to clubs presently outside of the top three.

While Spartak Moscow faces a torrid schedule, Amkar Perm’ likely has the easiest as in their final ten matches they face five clubs at the bottom of the table. With respectable performance, Miodrag Božovi? could see his club make it through to the Champions League. However recent performance has been sluggish and they’ve been unable to threaten in the attack with only three goals in the last six matches. Defensively they are highly disciplined and capable of shutting down most clubs but to move into third place they will need Georgi Peev to raise the attacking side. If that occurs, the spot will be theres, however I haven’t seen them show the ability to win on a consistent basis and it will take a radical turnaround to do so.

Amkar Perm’remaining schedule
Sep 14 @ Shinnik Yaroslav
Sep 20 Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Sep 28 @ Saturn Moscow
Oct 5 Terek Grozny
Oct 19 @CSKA Moscow
Oct 26 Lokomotiv Moscow
Nov 2 @ Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Nov 9 Zenit St Petersburg
Nov 16 @ Tom’ Tomsk
Nov 22 FC Khimki



	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	20	12	6	2	30	15	42
Dynamo Moscow	20	10	6	4	27	20	36
Spartak Moscow	20	8	9	3	33	27	33
Amkar Perm’	20	9	5	6	21	15	32
CSKA Moscow	20	8	8	4	27	15	32
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	20	7	9	4	28	17	30
Zenit St Petersburg	19	7	7	5	32	24	28
Spartak Nalchik	20	7	4	9	19	22	25
Terek Grozny	20	7	4	9	18	27	25
Lokomotiv Moscow	19	6	7	6	23	21	25

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Champions League hunt: Spartak Moscow

With ten matches left in the Rosgosstrakh Football Championship, the hunt for Champions League spots is one of the closest we’ve seen in the sport for quite some time.

After looking at Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Moscow, Spartak Moscow is in the third and final Champions League qualifying spot.

The Red-Whites are in a peculiar position because while the club has superb talent it has been in a state of disarray since the Dynamo Kyiv debacle, the loss Roman Pavlyuchenko to Tottenham and of course the firing of manager Stanislav Cherchesov. While they sit in third place, there is likely no club on our list facing as many challenges to qualify for the Champions League and in my opinion they will least likely to be in the top three and could easily tumble out of the top six.

Spartak Moscow remaining schedule
Sep 13 @ FC Moscow
Sep 21 Rubin Kazan
Sep 27 @ Shinnik Yaroslav
Oct 5 Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Oct 18 @ Saturn Moscow
Oct 25 Terek Grozny
Nov 1 @ CSKA Moscow
Nov 8 Lokomotiv Moscow
Nov 16 @ Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Nov 22 Zenit St Petersburg

Repeating again the difficult issues the club will face, Spartak Moscow additionally has to a tough workload with UEFA Cup match on September 18 and October 2 against Baník Ostrava of the Czech Republic. Beyond those heavy concerns, their schedule is laden with top flight clubs; FC Moscow, Rubin Kazan, Samara Kryliya Sovetov,Terek Grozny, CSKA Moscow,Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg on the final week of the campaign. In addition to this their second-to-last match is in Vladivostok against Luch-Energiya, where most squads typically draw. Without a major change in events, Spartak Moscow’s chances of going through to the Champions League are highly questionable.

	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	20	12	6	2	30	15	42
Dynamo Moscow	20	10	6	4	27	20	36
Spartak Moscow	20	8	9	3	33	27	33
Amkar Perm’	20	9	5	6	21	15	32
CSKA Moscow	20	8	8	4	27	15	32
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	20	7	9	4	28	17	30
Zenit St Petersburg	19	7	7	5	32	24	28
Spartak Nalchik	20	7	4	9	19	22	25
Terek Grozny	20	7	4	9	18	27	25
Lokomotiv Moscow	19	6	7	6	23	21	25

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Champions League hunt: Dynamo Moscow

With ten matches left in the Rosgosstrakh Football Championship, the hunt for Champions League spots is one of the closest we’ve seen in the sport for quite some time.

After looking at Rubin Kazan earlier, the next in line is Dynamo Moscow.

Without question, should the White-Blues not overtake Rubin Kazan they will look back on the last two matches, where they gave four points in drawing to Spartak Moscow and FC Moscow. It is no secret that they were my choice at the Euro break to take the title and these mental lapses in play is highly uncharacteristic of Andrey Kobelev’s squad

Dynamo Moscow remaining schedule
Sat. 13 @ Rubin Kazan
Sep 20 YFK Shinnik Yaroslav
Sep 27 @ Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Oct 4 Saturn Moscow
Oct 19 @ Terek Grozny
Oct 26 CSKA Moscow
Nov 3 @ Lokomotiv Moscow
Nov 9 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Nov 16 @ Zenit St Petersburg
Nov 22 Tom’ Tomsk

Quite obviously the upcoming six-point match against Rubin Kazan is the line in the sand. Without a victory the chances of overtaking them would require a complete collapse on their part. This is going to be doubly hard as the league leaders are very tough at home, however in do or die situations, champions are made. Needless to say, that is the match of the week. Dynamo Moscow does have an interesting advantage over Zenit Saint Petersburg and CSKA Moscow, as both squads are burdened with Champions League / UEFA Cup matches and and have numerous players within Guus Hiddink’s squad and could contribute to fatigue. Dynamo has only Denis Kolodin and Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow).

Beyond the Rubin Kazan match, they face extremely tough tests against Samara Kryliya Sovetov, a resurgent Terek Grozny, heated rivals CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and defending champions Zenit St Petersburg. To there good fortune, Spartak Moscow, sitting three points behind them have equally as difficult of a schedule if not more challenging. The feeding frenzy of the third through six spot of the table could equally provide them enough cushion as they cancel each other out. Their hopes will relay greatly on the one the best midfields in the sport of Krill and Dmitri Kombarov, Dmitri Kombarov and Igor Semshov to lead a attack.

	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	20	12	6	2	30	15	42
Dynamo Moscow	20	10	6	4	27	20	36
Spartak Moscow	20	8	9	3	33	27	33
Amkar Perm’	20	9	5	6	21	15	32
CSKA Moscow	20	8	8	4	27	15	32
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	20	7	9	4	28	17	30
Zenit St Petersburg	19	7	7	5	32	24	28
Spartak Nalchik	20	7	4	9	19	22	25
Terek Grozny	20	7	4	9	18	27	25
Lokomotiv Moscow	19	6	7	6	23	21	25

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Champions League hunt: Rubin Kazan

With ten matches left in the Rosgosstrakh Football Championship, Rubin Kazan are in the drivers seat for their first championship. There upcoming match against Dynamo Moscow, which has been moved to September 14, will go a long way in deciding the race although they do have a very challenging schedule. However not only will this match have a massive influence on the title but equally the hunt for Champions League spots.

This is a particularly interesting point to consider as the Russian Premier League as with revised qualification rules, the Russian Premier League will be allocated three spots, two automatically in the group stage and the third in the second qualifying round. Through the international break we’ll be looking at the title race and the important run for the Champions League.

Starting first with Rubin Kazan, they have a tough series of matches through September but they will benefit greatly from lack of involvement in Champions League or UEFA Cup that will certainly hinder Zenit Saint Petersburg, CSKA Moscow and FC Moscow. In addition with only Sergei Ryzhykov and Sergei Semak named to Guus Hiddink’s Russian squad, Kurban Berdyyev’s club should be well rested.

Of critical importance will be the upcoming match against Dynamo Moscow. It is an enormous six-point match, in which a victory would all but mathematically guarantee the championship. Failing a collapse, given the White-Blues (Dynamo) have a gruesome schedule down the stretch that includes Samara Kryliya Sovetov, CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg in the next to last week, a victory would provide Rubin Kazan clear sailing to the title and Champions League bid. There veteran core of Gökdeniz Karadeniz, Serhiy Rebrov, Roman Sharonov and of-course Sergei Semak will need to stay composed in this high pressure situation and stay focused.

Rubin Kazan remaining matches
Sep 14 Dynamo Moscow
Sep 21 @ Spartak Moscow
Sep 28 FC Moscow
Oct 4 @ Spartak Nalchik
Oct 18 Shinnik Yaroslav
Oct 25 @ Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Nov 2 @ Saturn Moscow
Nov 9 Terek Grozny
Nov 16 @ CSKA Moscow
Nov 22 Lokomotiv Moscow

	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	20	12	6	2	30	15	42
Dynamo Moscow	20	10	6	4	27	20	36
Spartak Moscow	20	8	9	3	33	27	33
Amkar Perm’	20	9	5	6	21	15	32
CSKA Moscow	20	8	8	4	27	15	32
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	20	7	9	4	28	17	30
Zenit St Petersburg	19	7	7	5	32	24	28
Spartak Nalchik	20	7	4	9	19	22	25
Terek Grozny	20	7	4	9	18	27	25
Lokomotiv Moscow	19	6	7	6	23	21	25

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Week 20 of the Russian Premier League

Week twenty of the Russian Premier League saw the table-leading Rubin Kazan expand their lead to solid six points, with the rest of the table tightening up. As we enter the final ten matches, stuttering Dynamo Moscow has given up four crucial points in the last two weeks and the real race might be for all-important second position and a Champions League date.

Saturday
CSKA Moscow 2 Lokomotiv Moscow 0
Koni looked like champions, powerful, confident and never in-doubt. The back-line that includes Russian capped Sergey Ignashevich, Aleksei Berezutskiy and Vasili Berezutskiy as well as a Lithuanian Deividas Šemberas shut-down the Lokomotiv assaults of Dmitri Torbinski and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and keeping Igor Akinfeev run of eight clean sheets in a row. In the attack, Yuri Zhirkov dominated and eighteen year-old striker phenom Alan Dzagoev continues to shine.

Sunday
Rubin Kazan 2 Amkar Perm’ 1
Almost the shock match of the weekend. Amkar Perm’ was leading my one with twenty-five minutes left and seemed to be padlocking the match before Aleksandr Bukharov and Christian Noboa scored within a five minute period. This victory in conjunction with the odd turn of events with Dynamo Moscow changed the complexion of the title race.

Dynamo Moscow 1 FC Moscow 1
A stunning match with a highly controversial outcome. With two minutes left in regulation time Kirill Kombarov volleyed a perfect cross to his brother Dmitri who headed into the back of the net. Dynamo was headed to victory and well past the alloted added-time, when the referee inexplicably not calling an end to the match, the Citizens won a corner to the left. With a poor clearance, the ball dropped to the ground and was edged into the net by Alexei Rebko. The two points lost in this match will go a great way in deciding the league title and Dynamo Moscow must be fuming with the time-keeping.

Luch-Energiya Vladivostok 1 Terek Grozny 1
As I said in my preview, never had all the makings of a draw and the road-trip to Vladivostok can never be underestimated.

Samara Kryliya Sovetov 4 Tom’ Tomsk 0
Samara Kryliya Sovetov’s striking duo of Yevgeny Savin and Jan Koller have radically changed the clubs fortune and they completely dismantled the Tomsk club after the break with four goals. Each striker scorin and Andrei Tikhonov adding a brace.

Spartak Moscow 2 Spartak Nalchik 1
Stunning conclusion to the match as Nalchik drew the match level in added-time only for Spartak Moscow’s nineteen year old Russian U-17 veteran scored. Incredible end to the match and crucial points for Spartak Moscow.

	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	20	12	6	2	30	15	42
Dynamo Moscow	20	10	6	4	27	20	36
Spartak Moscow	20	8	9	3	33	27	33
Amkar Perm’	20	9	5	6	21	15	32
CSKA Moscow	20	8	8	4	27	15	32
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	20	7	9	4	28	17	30
Zenit St Petersburg	19	7	7	5	32	24	28
Spartak Nalchik	20	7	4	9	19	22	25
Terek Grozny	20	7	4	9	18	27	25
Lokomotiv Moscow	19	6	7	6	23	21	25
FC Moscow	20	5	8	7	20	22	23
Tom’ Tomsk	20	6	4	10	17	28	22
Saturn Moscow	19	5	6	8	17	21	21
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	20	3	9	8	15	25	18
Shinnik Yaroslav	19	3	6	10	19	29	15
Khimki	20	2	8	10	22	40	14

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