The former defender of the USSR national team and Spartak, Vagiz Khidiyatullin, told Sport Day by Day that Zenit has more chances to win the Russian championship than the Red-Whites, who are inferior to the Petersburgers in the organization.

After 17 rounds, Zenit is in first place with 42 points. Spartak is second with 36 points.

– Do you follow the current championship of Russia?

– Yes, I follow as a fan, without fanaticism. I don’t track transfers, I don’t follow who went where.

– Should we expect the championship race of “Spartak” and “Zenith”?

– “Spartak” and “Zenith” are the teams that claim the title of champion of Russia. Both those and others will make every effort to solve their problems. Spartak was very interesting and sometimes beautiful with its game. After a pause, everything will be different – start over. Zenit has a fairly confident handicap. They have a slightly better chance.

– In what way is Spartak inferior to Zenit at the moment?

Let’s leave this question to the experts. Maybe in a certain organization, but these are trifles. It’s hard for me to talk about this. You need to understand all the affairs of the club and the transfer policy. Since Spartak has such a gap – six points, it means that everything is not going so smoothly for him.

– How do you evaluate the work of Abaskal and the results of the team after his arrival?

– Time will show. Remember, at first everyone accepted him with hostility – as it always happens with us. He needed to withstand this blow, which he did. Now the work is underway, he’s done well. Need to be treated with respect. First of all, this is the merit of Abaskal and the team that believed in him and supported him. Do you know what kind of players are? They can make such revolutions! In the case of Abaskal, everything went well. At the age of 30, to endure such negativity is worth a lot.

The 2022/23 season in Russia will resume with FONBET Russian Cup matches on February 22. The WORLD RPL season will continue on March 3. Watch broadcasts of RPL and Russian Cup matches on the Match TV federal channel, as well as on the thematic channels of the holding and on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.