Krasnodar does not lose anything in the RPL. But the great episodes are far away
Nikita Paglazov October 17, 2024, 16:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Musaev’s team has two games left before repeating the result of the 2014/2015 season. And the record is 16 games away!
Krasnodar produced a powerful series at the beginning of the RPL season. Murad Musaev’s team has not lost 11 consecutive games. There are only two games left before the record of the 2014/2015 season, when the Krasnodar team led by Oleg Kononov played 13 games without losing (from round 18 to round 30). In addition, “Krasnodar” has a streak of eight victories – the “bulls” have never had anything like this in the Russian championship. Record!
And which clubs started the RPL season so coldly in recent seasons? And who holds the record for the longest undefeated streak? Let’s remember.
The best start in Krasnodar’s history took place last season. The team began the 2023/2024 championship with 12 games without losing. Under the leadership of Vladimir Ivich, the Krasnodar team took first place. The first defeat occurred in the match of the 13th round in Moscow: Krasnodar lost to CSKA by a minimum score. After that, the “bulls” did not play more than three games in a row without losing.
Vladimir Ivich in Krasnodar
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
The longest streak without defeat at the beginning of the season since the RPL switched to the “autumn-spring” system was achieved by CSKA. In the 2015/2016 championship, Leonid Slutsky’s team did not lose 14 games in a row. CSKA lost for the first time on matchday 15 against Krasnodar (1-2). And then he played three more games without victories. But in the end, the Muscovites reached the title in the spring, beating Kurban Berdyev’s Rostov in the fight.
Interestingly, CSKA’s total unbeaten streak in the RPL in 2015 reached 21 matches. At first, the team did not lose seven matches at the end of the 2014/2015 season, and then added 14 more matches. 21 games without defeat is the seventh result in the history of the RPL.
Slutsky – up?
Classification
The best football coaches in Russia. Qualification for 30 years
And the best unbeaten streak in the autumn-spring championships belongs to Zenit. The Saint Petersburg team did not lose in the RPL from matchday 11 of the 2019/2020 season to matchday 5 of the 2020/2021 season. The streak reached 23 games.
Zenit won gold in the 2019/2020 RPL and then took the title in the following championship. 23 games without defeat is the fourth result in the history of the RPL.
Sergey Semak with the cup in 2020
Photo: RIA Novosti
But Zenit is also among the top three in the undefeated series. From the end of the 2009 season to the end of the 2010 season, the team played 26 games without losing. The series ended in the away match against Spartak (0:1): the only goal was scored by Dmitry Kombarov from a penalty in the 88th minute.
The Muscovites also have a 26-game unbeaten streak. This happened in 1993: Spartak lost in the first round to Rostselmash (0:1), but then slipped into the Russian championship. In early October 1993, Oleg Romantsev’s team lost to Rotor (0:1). But in the end, this did not prevent them from confidently winning the championship with a margin of 11 points over the Volgograd team.
After Spartak, things did not go so well for Romantsev:
Romantsev’s biggest defeat at the Russian championships. His team was defeated by Spartak!
However, the main unbeaten streak in the history of Russian football belongs to Lokomotiv. Firstly, the club led by Yuri Semin at the end of 2004 played seven games without losing and was proclaimed champion of Russia. And then in 2005, railroad workers continued their mighty progress. Semin left for the Russian national team and was replaced by Vladimir Eshtrekov. But even without the legendary coach, the team sought the second consecutive gold and maintained a 20-game unbeaten streak.
In the most important match against CSKA, Loko broke Spartak’s record (3-2). The army team at that time was the reigning UEFA Cup champion. “In the end I ran out of strength,” Dmitry Sychev rejoiced after the match. — To be honest, in the end I already accepted the draw. Although, of course, we were determined to win. After the goal, emotions overwhelmed me! “I immediately ran towards Pashinin to strangle him in my arms.”
Sychev’s game in the Lokomotiv – CSKA match in 2005
Photo: ITAR-TASS/ Grigory Sysoev
It all ended in the postponed matchday 16 match against Rubin in Kazan. Loko lost 1:3. And Dmitry Sychev suffered a cruciate ligament injury a few minutes before the end of the match. The team lost its leader, broke its unbeaten streak and floated away. In the remaining nine matches, Lokomotiv only won twice, drew six times and lost to Torpedo. The gold went to CSKA, and the team led by Eshtrekov even gave away the silver, leaving Spartak to move on.
“Krasnodar” is still far from thinking about such great series. The team’s task is to constantly earn points and move towards the first RPL gold in history. The match against Spartak will be one of the most important stages. There is the possibility of repeating the achievement of 12 games without defeat since the beginning of last season and, at the same time, obtaining a great emotional charge.
Galitsky took a risk and he was right. Will Musaev give Krasnodar its first title in history?
Musaev agreed with Galitsky. Nobody played like that in Krasnodar with Zenit
