In the order of the balls: how the Russian legionnaires started the season

Club football has gone on hiatus for the national team games, the first since the beginning of this season. The break allows us to summarize the preliminary results of the performance of Russians abroad, for many of whom the start was successful. Alexander Golovin's "Monaco" is leading the French championship after five rounds, ahead of Matvey Safonov's PSG. Alexey Miranchuk scored a goal for "Atlanta United" in the last round in MLS.

Golovin and the leadership of "Monaco"

In the summer, the 30-year-old began his ninth season with "Monaco". In early September, closer to the closing of the transfer window, there were rumors in the media that he might return to Russia. ""There was talk of interest in him from "Zenit" St. Petersburg and "Spartak" Moscow. As a result, Golovin stayed in Europe.

And he did it at the moment when "Monaco" successfully started in the French championship. The Monegasques are leading in Ligue 1 after five rounds — they have scored 13 points with four wins and one draw. ""Filipe Luis's team is two points ahead of the closest pursuers in the face of "Lyon" and "Paris".

Golovin himself was particularly noted in the third round, when his team beat PSG (2-1), the winner of the last five French championships. Alexander scored the winning assist in that game. And in the last round, when his team won at home in the end against the current vice-champion "Lance" (2:1), the Russian played the entire match in an unusual position of extreme midfielder.

""After the game, "Monaco" head coach Filipe Luis especially noted Golovin's professionalism, who plugged a hole on the flank and helped Monaco to win an important victory. Now Alexander is going to the Russian national team, for which he will play against Iran, Namibia and Nigeria in the coming weeks.

The faces of champions: Safonov, Khaykin and Batrakov enter the European stage

Who will Russian football players play against in the new season of the continent's main club tournament

Safonov and the competition at PSG

Matvey Safonov was also called up to the national team. Recently, the PSG goalkeeper was included in the list of contenders for the title of the best goalkeeper in the world in 2026. Obviously, he got this nomination primarily for the achievements of winter and spring, when the 27-year-old football player managed to win a place at the heart of the strongest club in Europe.

Having won the Champions League in 2025, as well as the championship and the French Cup, Matvey still remained in reserve under Gianluigi Donnarumma. Last summer, the star Italian joined "Manchester City", however, PSG bought the talented Frenchman Luc Chevalier, who played in the first half of last season.

In December, he briefly dropped out due to injury, and Safonov took advantage of the chance, beating off four penalties in the post-match series against Brazilian "Flamengo", thanks to the victory in which (2:1) after a draw in regular time (1:1) the Parisians won the Intercontinental Cup. However, Matvey suffered a broken arm in that game and was out for a month.

But at that time, Chevalier was not very reliable, and his team risked losing the championship, where it was behind "Lance". As a result, Safonov was returned to the base at the end of January, and since then he has not given way there, bringing PSG another victory in the French championship, and then in the Champions League.

In August, the Russian goalkeeper added the European Super Cup to these trophies as the first number, in which PSG won 2-1 against English "Aston Villa". But things are not going well for Luis Enrique's players in the national championship. They started with two draws and a loss to "Monaco".

""We managed to win only in the last two rounds — away from Brest" (1-0) and "Marseille" (2:1). After five rounds, PSG is in sixth place. Safonov played only one match without conceding goals. At the same time, the crisis is noticeable in the game of the entire team, not just the goalkeeper, but there are already discussions in the French media about the expediency of returning Chevalier to the base. The confidence of the coaching staff in Matvey can be judged by whether he plays in the base after the break.

"Even under Donnarumme, I was sure that Safonov would become the main one at PSG"

""""Krylia Sovetov" goalkeeper Nikita Kokarev — about the triumph of the former partner of "Krasnodar" in the Champions League, the difficulties of "Lokomotiv" and the tasks of the Samaritans for the season

Miranchuk saves "Atlanta"

"Atlanta United" has only eight matches left in the regular season of the North American league MLS. So far, things are going badly for Alexey Miranchuk's team — the penultimate place in the Eastern Conference. Seven points separate from the playoff zone. To catch up and overtake the competition, "Atlanta" needs to pass with minimal losses this fall.

Miranchuk is doing what he can to help his club. "" In particular, he scored the only goal in the away match of the last round against the Portland Timbers (1-0) and brought "Atlanta" victory. The next match is at home against "New York City". At the same time, Alexey has also been called up to the Russian national team for the upcoming games.

Batrakov started at "Galatasaray"

The young Russian midfielder joined the ranks of the current Turkish champion, who successfully started the current championship. But "Galatasaray" is not the leader of the national team's games. With equal points, he is inferior to "Amed" in the difference between goals scored and conceded. This happened due to the away defeat against "Trabzonspor" last weekend.

""In the sixth round, Galatasaray" had already lost to the team for which the superstar of "Liverpool" of the previous 10 years, Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah, was playing, by the break. It was he who decided the outcome of the meeting. Batrakov came on as a substitute in the 68th minute, when the score was already 3-0 in favor of "Trabzonspor". Alexey had no chance to turn the game around.

Before that, he played in three of his team's winning matches in the Turkish championship, and in the fifth round he made an assist. "" Batrakov also played in the opening match of the Champions League — "Galatasaray" lost on the road to Sporting Lisbon (1:3). Alexey is also going to the Russian national team for the upcoming matches.

In addition, it is worth noting the goalkeeper of the Austrian "Sturm" Daniil Khudyakov. He started his third season at the Graz-based club. Previously, the 22-year-old goalkeeper was a reserve, but last summer he became the first number of the team. And he played all the matches in the European Cup and the Austrian championship, where his "Storm" is fourth in seven points from first place. Arsen Zakharyan, a midfielder, is still trying to break into the Spanish "Real Sociedad" base, but he is content with only substitute appearances at the end of matches.