Thursday’s top games: Russian Cup and the start of the Examples, Medvedev’s battle plus hockey
Mikhail Georgiev August 14, 2024, 21:00 Moscow time
Sports August 15: KHL champions to open pre-season and also qualify for Europa League Ajax – Panathinaikos!
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See all events for August 15 at the Match Center
🎾 3:30*: Jiri Legechka (Czech Republic) – Daniil Medvedev (Russia, 4), Cincinnati, second round 🏒 13:00: “Vityaz” – “Metallurg” Magnitogorsk, friendly match ⚽️ 18:00: “Fakel” – ” Akron”, Russian Cup, group D, 2nd round ⚽️ 20:00: Athletic de Bilbao – Getafe, First, 1st round ⚽️ 20:30: Krasnodar – Akhmat, Russian Cup, group C, 2. ª round ⚽️ 21:15: Ajax – Panathinaikos, Europa League, third qualifying round, second match ⚽️ 22:30: Betis – Girona, First League, 1st round
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The time on the material is indicated in Moscow.
🎾 3:30*: Jiri Lehechka (Czech Republic) – Daniil Medvedev (Russia, 4), Cincinnati, second round
💬 Match text transmission
*Match schedule may change and will be confirmed.
Intrigue: How will Medvedev conduct his final practice before the US Open?
After the Olympics, Daniil Medvedev had an unsuccessful Masters in Montreal, losing at the start to the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina. A similar tournament in Cincinnati is, in fact, the last rehearsal for the Russian before the US Open starts on August 26. In the second round of Cincinnati, Daniil will face the Czech Jiri Lehechka. The tennis players previously met twice and exchanged victories. At Wimbledon 2023, Medvedev was stronger, and at Madrid 2024, Legechka was stronger, and both matches were not completed until the end. The winner of the new meeting will face one of the members of the Lorenzo Musetti – Frances Tiafoe pair in the Cincinnati bracket.
Daniil played unsuccessfully at the Canada Masters:
“Toilet breaks became a problem for me”: Medvedev’s confessions after his departure in Montreal
🏒 13:00: “Vityaz” – “Metallurg” Magnitogorsk, friendly match
Intrigue: Will the champion fly from the start?
Pre-season matches are unpredictable. Teams are still under pressure and the result is not the most important thing – it is important to see what can be improved before the start of the season. “Vityaz” has already played one match, started brilliantly – the team led 4:1 after the first half. But the result was not so flattering – a 4:7 defeat. Magnitogorsk has not yet held a single match in pre-season. What will Razin’s team be like in the first match after the triumphant end of last season?
Vityaz coach talks about how his team will play:
Desyatkov: “Vityaz” will be aggressive and biting, we will not give anything to anyone
⚽️ 18:00: “Fakel” – “Akron”, Russian Cup, group D, 2nd round
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Intrigue: Will Voronezh residents avenge their defeat in the RPL?
At the end of July, the Premier League newcomers successfully traveled to Voronezh, scoring three points (2-0). At the same time, they were in the majority in the second half and scored on both occasions. Now, due to the unfavorable situation in the region, the match will be played without spectators, but even so, Fakel is unlikely to allow another elimination. In addition, the club has changed its coach: this will be Dmitry Pyatibratov’s first match after his return. In such situations, football players usually have very high morale.
What is happening with refereeing in the RPL?
One RPL club suffers more often than others from refereeing mistakes. Table of refereeing errors after the fourth round.
⚽️ 20:00: Athletic de Bilbao – Getafe, First, 1st matchday
Intrigue: The return of La Liga
RPL is, of course, good. But the variety of interesting leagues is even better. Russian football started a long time ago, while the major European championships were in hibernation. And now they are finally coming out of it. La Liga will open with the match between Athletic and Getafe. Euro 2024 heroes Unai Simon, Dani Vivian and Nico Williams have not abandoned the Basques. The first was out for a long time due to injury, but the second and third can be seen in action. Last season the team stayed in the league championship for a long time, but finished fifth. Maybe luck will smile on them now?
Has Williams hinted that he will stay in the Basque Country?
Nico Williams has changed his Athletic shirt number to number 10 amid rumours of him leaving the club
⚽️ 20:30: Krasnodar – Akhmat, Russian Cup, Group C, 2nd round
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Intrigue: Will the Groznians punish the favourite again?
“Akhmat” is a real kryptonite for “Krasnodar”: the “bulls” have only had three draws in their last four head-to-head meetings. And the home defeat this spring largely predetermined the defeat in the championship race. Krasnodar Grozny players have already stopped the current RPL (1:1). Will they now do the same in the Cup? It will be difficult, because Krasnodar, even with major team problems, wonderfully beat CSKA (2:1), eventually taking three points in the Premier League.
Two heroes from Krasnodar joined the team for the tour:
RPL 4th round team. Zenit’s hero, Loko’s dominance and even a Spartak player
⚽️ 21:15: Ajax – Panathinaikos, Europa League, third qualifying round, second match
Intrigue: Will Yuri Lodygin approach the main stage?
In this pair, the power balance was not at all in favour of the Greeks at first. In the first match, their famous opponent won, but with a minimal score. Perhaps if Lodygin had played, the result would have been different. In any case, Panathinaikos still has a chance to reach the decisive stage of qualification. Still, falling in the third European Cup is not the best result. And Ajax is no longer what it was. Otherwise, it would not have played in the Europa League qualifying round.
Former Ajax heroes registered en masse in Manchester:
Manchester United spent 272.4 million euros on players that Diez Hag trained at Ajax – ESPN
⚽️ 22:30: Betis – Girona, First, 1st matchday
Intrigue: Will the Catalans be impressed by the latest successes?
Girona sensationally finished third in the Spanish Championship and for a while even fought for gold. However, it will be incredibly difficult for them not to collapse. Firstly, their schedule will be packed with Champions League matches. And now there are eight of them in the group stage. Secondly, the club parted ways with its main players: Dovbik, Savio, Ales Garcia and his namesake Eric. It’s good that Tsygankov and Gutierrez are still there. But this is only for now: conditional “Liverpool” will come for them and goodbye. The upcoming season is extremely difficult.
These high-profile transfers have already taken place:
PSG spent 100 million euros and Barça kept the European champion. Latest transfers in the best leagues
