Selecting a match and calling it central will not work, as happened, for example, last weekend, when Spartak hosted Zenit. Several interesting matches will be played over the weekend. One of them will take place in Moscow – it is about the confrontation between Spartak and Akhmat.
Everyone is interested in how the rojiblancos will react to the defeat of Zenit (1-3). After that match, the Spartak coach, the Spanish Guillermo Abascal, regretted the bad luck, the early yellow card of Mikhail Ignatov, but still the capital team was defeated in a duel with a direct competitor for the “gold”. And this in a situation where “Zenith” itself has big problems.
The former midfielder of Spartak and the Russian national team, the two-time champion of the USSR, Alexander Mostovoy, shared his thoughts on the upcoming matches with RG.
Do you think Spartak fans are looking forward to the match against Akhmat?
Alexander Mostovoy: Hardly. It is clear that the Spartacists need to rehabilitate from the defeat of Zenit, but in terms of composition and class, Muscovites are stronger than Akhmat. For about half an hour I watched the match between Grozny and Orenburg (4-0). Listen, well, there the guests did not show anything at all, they had neither desire nor humor. It’s amazing at all.
In recent matches, Spartak players have become more and more inferior to their rivals in the fight. Photo: Mikhail Sinitsyn / RG
With such defensive problems, will the rojiblancos be able to proclaim themselves champions?
Alexander Mostovoy: We see that Spartak is trying to solve these problems. After all, they recently bought Serbian Srjan Babich.
Is it the substitute for Giorgi Jikia or the Paraguayan Alexis Duarte?
Alexander Mostovoy: It’s hard to say. On the one hand, the captain of the Jikia team, on the other, Duarte is Abaskal’s protégé. Here the Spanish will have to make a decision.
Abascal has been criticized by many for constantly changing his lineup. Why are you doing that?
Alexander Mostovoy: Then you have to ask him. After matches, journalists should ask Abascal why certain players stay on the bench. He has a choice, and a big one. Spartak now has almost two equal compositions.
The main problem of the Spartacists is defense. The team has conceded ten goals in five Premier League games.
Let’s talk about other title contenders. Can an offensive draw at home with Lokomotiv (1-1) affect the state of Krasnodar?
Alexander Mostovoy: By the way, even before that game, I assumed that it would end in a draw. To be honest, in the 89th minute I turned off the TV and only later found out that Miranchuk had scored. It’s a pity for Krasnodar. If they had held out until victory, now with 15 points they would be alone in the lead. But still, they all work fine. In principle, Krasnodar has a strong squad and very good legionnaires. I also like his coach, the Serbian Vladimir Ivic. He behaves normally, he doesn’t pretend to be someone else. Let’s see how they all turn out.
Despite the loss of Brazilian Malcolm Daler Kuzyaev, are Zenit still the best team in Russia?
Alexander Mostovoy: “Zenith” is undoubtedly one of the main favorites of the season. Yes, Malcolm and Kuzyaev left, but the club replenished the squad with several newcomers. There is still Wendel, who at the Premier League level is almost the best player. He would strengthen any European team. For two and a half months it is not clear what he was doing in his homeland, he returned and performed with Spartak. This says a lot.
Dinamo have won three games in a row and have already moved up to third place, but they also miss a lot. What do you think of Czech Marcel Lichka’s team?
Alexander Mostovoy: Do you remember how Dynamo started? Defeat against “Krasnodar”, tie with “Wings of the Soviets”. And now three wins in a row. At some point in the last games Dynamo was lucky. With the same CSKA, I would not say that the army team deserved to lose. But the “blue and white” is already underway. They calmed down after an overly hectic start, the players probably began to understand Lichka’s demands better, and things more or less improved. Dynamo, Spartak, CSKA, Krasnodar and Zenit will undoubtedly fight for the championship. I still don’t quite understand what is happening with Lokomotiv, which was considered by many to be one of the main favorites for the title. But what do we see? There is no Dzyuba and the team does not know how to play. With Dzyuba everything is easier: I threw the ball to him, he fought, threw it and ran on. And now Artem has missed a couple of meetings, and the “railroaders” have almost nothing in the attack.
Meanwhile
2Drots became the only team in the Medialiga to reach the third round of the Russian Cup, beating Murom 3-1 and before eliminating Sakhalin (2-0) from the competition. Two other representatives of the Medialiga, “Amkal” and “Rodina Media”, failed to advance to the next phase, losing respectively to “Tekstilshchik” (0:0, 3:4 on penalties) and Vologda “Dynamo” (0: 3). ). The next rival for Dmitry Kuznetsov’s team will be Dynamo (Kirov).
where we will look
Friday August 25, “Premier Party”
17.25. “Orenburg” – CSKA. Live broadcast. 19.55. “Torch” – “Krasnodar”. Live broadcast.
Saturday August 26, “Match TV”
19.00. “Spartak” – “Akhmat”. Live broadcast.
“Premier Party”
14.30. “Zenith” – “Ural”. Live broadcast.17.25. Rubin – Dynamo. Live broadcast. 19.55. “Pari NN” – “Rostov”. Live broadcast.
Sunday August 27, “Premier Party”
17.30. “Wings of the Soviets” – “Baltika”. Live broadcast. 8:00 p.m. Sochi vs. Lokomotiv. Live broadcast.
