Zenit, Spartak and CSKA are out of the top three of the RPL. When was the last time this happened?
Polina Kuimova August 25, 2023, 10:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Russian Championship ranking after the initial five rounds is surprising.
Five rounds have already passed in the RPL, as a result of which the rating took on a rather original look. The leaders are Krasnodar, Ural and Dynamo. Of this trio in the last five seasons, only the Muscovites have gone as high after one sixth of the distance (2021/2022).
RPL ranking after round 5
Zenit, Spartak, CSKA and Lokomotiv are out of the top 3. Let’s see when was the last time this happened.
We have already seen how triples changed. There are some amazing videos there:
Spartak most often came second in the last 5 seasons. But the best club after Zenit is not him
“Locomotive”
Now the club occupies the 11th line, but this is not the worst result – last season, after the results of five rounds, Loko finished in 13th place. But the last time the team was in 11th place was in 2010. Loko moved up to the top three after five rounds in the 2019/2020 season, when they won silver medals at the end of the championship. The sharpest jump among the red and green was recorded a season later, when from tenth place at the start the team reached the third row in round 30.
SeasonPlace after the fifth roundfinal place2022/20231382021/2022462020/20211032019/2020322018/2019522017/2018212016/2017982015/2016362014/2015872013/2014532012/2013 39
CSKA
The Club often completed the first five rounds outside the top three (eight times in the previous 10 seasons). The last time CSKA was at the top of the table at the start of the Championship was in the 2016/2017 season, occupying the second row (in the end it finished second). At the same time, the army team won seven medals in a decade and gold three times.
SeasonPlace after the fifth roundfinal place2022/2023422021/2022652020/2021962019/2020642018/2019842017/2018522016/2017222015/20161111111111111111111/2015722013/201 4 312012/201361
Who holds the record for wins at the start?
The super series “Krasnodar” was interrupted. And who in the RPL holds the record for early wins?
“Spartacus”
In the previous 10 seasons, Spartak only four times left the top three after the initial five rounds, and the last time was recently in the 2021/2022 season, in which the club failed (10th place). The relationship between the position at the start and after the 30th round of the team is not tracked: three times the second place was replaced by the fifth or sixth, and in the 2017/2018 season, on the contrary, there was a sharp rise from seventh. position to third.
SeasonPlace after the fifth roundfinal place2022/2023132021/20228102020/2021222019/2020772018/2019252017/2018732016/2017112015/2016452014/2015262013/2014262012/20132 4
At the start of this season, it seems that we have made a mistake at Spartak:
Between “Zenith” and “Spartacus” there is still an abyss
“Zenith”
The last time the St. Petersburg Club fell out of the top three after five rounds was in 2016, in the penultimate season before establishing their own RPL hegemony. In the last 10 years, Zenit have only been out of the top twice in this segment; the rest of the time he firmly held the lead until the end of the championship. The only exception was the 2017/2018 season, with the final fifth place: then the podium was taken by Loko, CSKA and Spartak, and the fourth line went to Krasnodar.
SeasonPlace after the fifth roundfinal place2022/2023212021/2022212020/20211112019/2020112018/201911111111111152016/2017432015/2016232014/2015112013/2014422012/20131 2
The current situation of the tournament is unique in its own way: for the last decade, the three most titled clubs in Russia (Zenith, Spartak, CSKA) have not dropped out of the top 3 at the start at the same time.
