CSKA good at countering other giants.

A high-level match, which is considered such by its sign and, most likely, will turn out to be so in content, is a rarity for RPL December. Not everyone can maintain the quality mark in snow, but CSKA and “Krasnodar” will be lucky enough to play outside the 13-16 degrees below zero of Moscow. The match will determine the “winter champion” of the championship.

Zenit will no longer forgive

Infighting has been the leitmotif of the Premier League in recent seasons. Teams struggle not only with each other, but also with internal problems. Until recently Krasnodar was the exception: it was at the top of the table. For the freshness of sensations and non-accumulated fatigue. And also due to the stagnation of the current champion, the class gap between Zenit and the others is several times smaller this season than in previous ones.

But even so, the southerners do not have enough margin of safety to carry on a championship “conversation” on equal terms with a direct competitor. A reliable lead disappeared at the end of October – then Vladimir Ivich’s team unexpectedly lost points in Kaliningrad (2:2 with Baltika), and then lost at all CSKA (0:1). This showed that there is still something to worry about the fate of the intrigue: if the southerners fall, Zenit will quickly make up for lost time.

The main intermediate success was that the “citizens” managed to maintain a draw in St. Petersburg. Vladimir Ivich approached the evaluation of the result pragmatically:

This result is realistic. We were better than Zenit until we scored the first goal. After that we lost confidence and stopped playing with the ball.

This kind of problem existed when I first came to Krasnodar, then we solved it, but today it reappeared. We played against a good opponent with a good coach. They scored and we didn’t react as we would have liked. But we are happy with the point we gained today.

Subsequently, the “Citizens” lost to the “Urals”, and the St. Petersburg took the lead. True, they forgave us the first time: they lost to Lokomotiv in the 17th round. And Krasnodar returned to 1st place.

The problem is that this number of misfires for Zenit is abnormally high. And even with him the southerners struggle to maintain competition. But with dignity, at least someone succeeds.

CSKA there is no equal in victories over character

The CSKA team is far from these championship clashes and arms races: the injured have just begun to return to them. Everyone remembers the long period in which the “red-blue” managed to win only 1 match out of 11 in regular time, and they managed to break this decline precisely in the match against “Krasnodar”.

For Vladimir Fedotov, the norm is to show results according to character. This happened in Orenburg, then in Sochi. A year earlier with CSKA. And now the Muscovites did not fail, although they also had to play with completely green students.

From that moment CSKA They also beat Paris NN, but missed the victory over Fakel (1:1) and had a terrible derby with Dynamo (2:3). But in the next two matches with Rostov, he first played a draw (1:1 in the Cup), and then, in terrible snow and frost, showed solid football in some places and achieved a confident victory (2:0 ).

Now we will have to demonstrate new character, even in a match against a top team. The Army guys know the recipe for this. They have already drawn with Zenit and beaten Krasnodar, so the Bulls have serious reasons for concern.

Comparison between pragmatic trainers

You shouldn’t expect overwhelming football with many chances; Ivich and Fedotov are coaches of a fundamentally different type. The first is a very concentrated Serbian who doesn’t know the word “smile”. He built the team for himself and was the first to teach Galitsky’s Krasnodar to play according to the score. He forgets the romantic image of football. Under Ivic, the southerners know their strengths, are good at fighting for the ball and launch excellent high-speed attacks. And they calmly keep score when required.

CSKA Fedotova is also not about walls and running. This is versatility, “military” endurance and discipline. The mentor started in clubs with modest opportunities and from there got into the habit of making do with what he had and adapting as he went. This philosophy continues in the Moscow team. Moises is a central defender, Mukhin and Chalov are inside, Oblyakov is a winger, Gayich is on the opposite wing – this is an incomplete list of changes made by Vladimir. The coach therefore managed to stay with the “Rossoblù”, for whom transfers are extremely difficult. His organization, discipline, flexibility are counterarguments for Ivic in the pragmatic comparison between two top coaches.

The main irritant for bulls

The army men have already become a serious nuisance for Krasnodar in the last 3 matches. Who often puts a spanner in the works even for southerners? Last season, the “red-blue” knocked the “bulls” into the lower group of the Russian Cup with a stunning blow. Then the goalless home draw in the championship; those two points were ultimately not enough to enter the top 5.

The culmination was the final of the Russian Cup, the army team gave the finishing touches to their opponents in a penalty shootout and stole the trophy from under their noses. Finally: the current draw RPL, defeat of the “bulls” in Moscow. Because of him, Krasnodar’s handicap to Zenit is only 2 points, not 5.

In total, the Krasnodar team managed to beat the Muscovites in only one of the previous six meetings. Zenit will play Paris NN a little earlier and are unlikely to lose even a point: to prepare for the spring as leaders, the hosts need a victory.