Visit to the leader: will Loko be able to take away points from Krasnodar

In the upcoming second round of the Russian Football Championship, the first two matches of the season will be held, which can be called the top ones. The reigning national champion Krasnodar will host Moscow's Lokomotiv, while Zenit St. Petersburg will visit Rubin Kazan. In addition, Spartak Moscow will play at home with Baltika Kaliningrad, which rose from the first league and created the main sensation of the first round.

Krasnodar – Lokomotiv

Krasnodar, which won the last championship, started the new draw with a major away victory over Pari Nizhny Novgorod (3:0). In addition, the club this week finalized the transfer of French midfielder Gaetan Perrin, who spent a very productive season at Auxerre. Earlier, the Bulls made two more transfers from the French championship. In both cases, the Brazilians became newcomers — defender Jubal from Auxerre and midfielder Douglas Augusto from Nantes.

At the same time, Krasnodar retained the entire main squad of last season, which gives it a chance to repeat its success in the new championship. Lokomotiv failed in the spring part of last season, when it abruptly dropped out of the competition for medals and finished sixth in the RPL. In the summer, he won the transfer race from Spartak for the key striker of Rostov and the Russian national team Nikolai Komlichenko, and also signed striker Alexander Rudenko and midfielder Zelimkhan Bakayev, who were released from the bankrupt Khimki.

Two former players of the Moscow region club have already been noted for their effective actions in the first round — they scored a goal against Sochi, Rudenko also made an assist for Dmitry Vorobyov, and their new team defeated the southern club at home.

—Krasnodar looks very confident at the start, as if the championship season never stopped for them," Nikolai Naumov, former president of Lokomotiv, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — He took three points from Paris NN in the class, kept the squad and strengthened it pointwise. The team has everything it needs to keep the trophy or at least compete for it again. Loko's prospects are still vague, but he is able to take away points in a separate match from the champion on his field. After the offseason, the team is charged with fighting, its newcomers are very motivated. And the "railwaymen" are able to succeed against this background.

Rubin – Zenit

Having lost the championship for the first time in seven years last spring, Zenit will try to regain the RPL gold. He acquired two high—class foreign players - Brazilian midfielder Gerson and Argentine defender Roman Vega. In addition, the Brazilian star of the blue-white-blue of recent years, Wendel, returned to St. Petersburg, sold in the winter to Botafogo, which has now canceled the transfer.

In the first round, Sergei Semak's wards barely managed a strong-willed victory over Rostov with a score of 2:1. Zenit lost until the middle of the second half, and only thanks to a goal by Mateo Casierra in the 67th minute from the game and Andrei Mostovoy in the 75th minute from the penalty spot took three points.

The main success of Rubin this summer is the retention of key striker Mirlinda Dacu in the squad. In the past two seasons, the class of the Albanian striker was clearly above the overall level of the team and allowed it to finish the season confidently in the first half of the table. It has long been in demand from clubs in the leading group. But Kazan residents are still preserving it. Meanwhile, in the first round, they managed to beat Akhmat Grozny (2-0).

"It's going to be a very difficult and unpredictable match," Anatoly Byshovets, former Zenit head coach, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — Rubin has long demonstrated a well-established defensive game, the ability to launch counterattacks, and can rely on Daku's individual skills at the forefront of the attack. This gives a good chance to take away points from Zenit, which barely coped with the dense game of the less skilled Rostov.

Spartak – Baltika

Spartak started with a minimal home victory over Dynamo Makhachkala (1-0), while creating a lot of chances at someone else's goal, and referee Vasily Kazartsev, for various reasons, did not count four red-and-white goals. Now he will have a new match on his field with an opponent from the bottom of the table. And this will be a serious test for the red and white.

Following the results of the season before last, Baltika flew out of the RPL, at the same time reaching the superfinal of the Russian Cup, where Zenit almost won when they led 1-0 in the 80th minute, but eventually lost 1:2. After that, she appointed Andrei Talalaev as head coach and strengthened the squad. This helped us to confidently win the tournament in the first league and return to the Premier League.

Kaliningrad started with an away match against Dynamo Moscow, where coach of the Russian national team Valery Karpin officially debuted as the head coach. Baltika managed to disappoint him on the spot. Talalaev's team led 1-0 after the first half and could have increased the advantage. At the beginning of the second half, Dynamo equalized, but in the end they could not achieve victory. Baltika scored a point due to a 1-1 draw and will now try to repeat or surpass the success of their next trip to the capital.

— I can't say that we are happy with the point scored in the match against Dynamo — our team always comes out to win, — Maxim Petrov, the Baltic midfielder, told Izvestia. — I think everyone saw that we were a little bit closer to victory than Dynamo. Baltika is ready for the Premier League and wants to achieve the highest possible result. We are ready to compete with everyone and be at the top of the standings. We have enough team spirit to work together and not concede in any single combat. Therefore, we expect to play with any club to win, including in the next match against Spartak. We have everything we need to play no worse than against Dynamo. Or even better. We will fight for victory.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming round. On Friday, Samara Krylia Sovetov will host Pari Nizhny Novgorod. On Saturday, Dynamo Moscow will face Rostov at home, and Sochi will face Akron Togliatti. On Sunday, CSKA Moscow will play at home with Akhmat Grozny, and Orenburg against Dynamo Makhachkala.