A victorious double in Portugal and a triumph in the Polish Cup: what can Russian football players achieve in Europe this season

In a number of European countries, football championships have resumed or have determined the dates of the first matches after the break. The fight for trophies will continue to several Russian players playing in foreign clubs. Goalkeeper Ivan Zlobin can win the championship and the Portuguese Cup with Benfica, striker Timur Zhamaletdinov has already helped Lech make it to the semifinals of the Polish Cup, while others will try to help their clubs qualify for European cups.

Ivan Zlobin (Benfica)

The Portuguese Championship will resume on June 3. Two matches of the major league have already been appointed for this date, in one of which the leader of the Porto standings will play. And the next day, the fight for the title with him will continue to Benfica, for which the Russian goalkeeper Ivan Zlobin stands.

The pupil of CSKA has excellent chances to arrange with his team a winning double in this difficult season. In the national championship, Benfica is only one point behind Porto, with ten more rounds ahead. Principal rivals will not play among themselves, so the Zlobin team needs to hope for at least one misfire of the competitor and at the same time try not to lose points. But in the final of the Cup of the country, the rivals will converge and in the in-person dispute will reveal the best, however, the date of the match has not yet been determined.

In fairness, Zlobin himself is unlikely to be able to take a direct part in the fight for trophies. He spent almost the entire season on the bench. In the Portuguese Cup, the 23-year-old goalkeeper defended the goal, but only until the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, due to the tight schedule of the remaining matches, Zlobin’s chances to enter the field will be higher than usual - rotation may be necessary even for the main goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachojos.

Timur Zhamaletdinov ("Lech")

The football tournament resumed in Poland, where CSKA player Timur Zhamaletdinov acts on a leasehold basis. His “Lech" has already managed to break into the semifinals of the Cup of the country, and the 23-year-old striker contributed to this. It was he who scored the winning goal in the match with the Meletsk “Steel”, held on May 27. In the next round, the team from Poznan will meet with Lechia on July 8, and if they win, they will challenge the trophy and a ticket to the Europa League with Cracovia or Lehi.

In the championship of Poland “Lehu” will be hard to fight for the title. The gap from the leading "Legia" is nine points. But on the other hand, Zhamaletdinov’s team is only one point behind the second Piast. There are four more rounds of the regular season ahead of the Polish clubs, after which the eight best teams will continue to fight in the championship round. Lech has every chance to get the silver of the national championship.

Evgeny Bashkirov (Zaglembe)

In a more difficult situation is another Polish team “Zaglembe”, where in February this year Evgeny Bashkirov moved from Rubin. Before the break, she took 11th place in the standings with a gap of four points from the zone of the champion round. For four matches, the Russian midfielder team will not be easy to clear up such a lag. But there is no doubt that the club is counting on the help of a Russian. Bashkirov has already managed to play three matches in Zaglemb and has become the author of an assist.

If you fail to get into the top eight, then the former midfielder of “Tomi” and “Wings of the Soviets” will have to fight to maintain registration in the top division. This task will be easier, since Zaglembe has a seven-point lead over the 14th place Crown.

Denis Cheryshev (Valencia)

In the next two weeks, the Spanish Football Championship will resume. The Marca newspaper has published a detailed calendar of the remaining matches, which will begin on June 11. Two days after the start, Denis Cheryshev, the player of the Russian national team, will have to return to the field. His “Valencia” will play the first game after a break related to coronavirus at home with “Levante”.

For the remaining 11 rounds, Cheryshev's team will return to the European Cup zone. Now “Valencia” is in seventh place with a three-point gap behind “Atletico”, its closest competitor. Of the six teams that are higher in the standings, Cheryshev will meet with two - Real Madrid and Sevilla.

Fedor Smolov (Celta)

On June 14, Fedor Smolov will have a chance to enter the field. His “Celta” will take on his field “Villarreal”. For a club from Vigo, this will be the first step in the struggle to maintain a residence permit in the Example.

Now the Smolov team is in 17th place, just one point from the relegation zone. Behind Majorca, Leganes and Espanyol retain the chances to get ahead of Celta, which has remained in the Spanish football elite since 2013.

Alexey Tataev (Mlada Boleslav)

After the departure of Nikolai Komlichenko, the Russian presence in Mladá Boleslav decreased to one person. Defender Alexei Tataev continues to play in the team. True, he did not play in the first match after the break with the leader of the Czech championship Slavia. The reason for this was the disqualification due to busting yellow cards.

Like last season, Mlada continues to fight only for participation in the Europa League. She still has chances for this, although after losing to Prague she fell to seventh place in the standings.

Tataev’s team needs to try to get into the top six for the remaining five rounds of the regular season and continue the fight in the champion group. Otherwise, she can only take part in the playoffs for the last ticket to the European competition.

Alexander Zhirov (“Sandhausen”)

In Germany, the football season is in full swing, and central defender Alexander Zhirov, who has managed to play in several RPL and FNL clubs, continues to play there. True, he does not enter the field in matches of the elite division, but in the second Bundesliga, where he represents Zandhausen.

Zhirov's team at the beginning of the season claimed to be upgraded, but now must fight for survival. According to the results of the three rounds that passed after the break, Zandhausen dropped to 14th place and is only four points from the 16th.

For his part, Zhirov is doing everything possible so that the team does not appear even lower. In the last two meetings, one of which he spent in the status of captain, the defender helped his team not to miss a single goal and even became the author of the assist, which brought victory over Veen.

Fedor Kudryashov (Antalyaspor) and Anton Mitryushkin (Sion)

Not all Russian players managed to wait for the season to resume. So, for Alexander Golovin from Monaco, it is already finished, since in France the authorities did not allow the competition to be held until September.

While the situation with two more famous players from Russia remains unclear. Waiting for news about the resumption of the Turkish championship Fedor Kudryashov, who moved to Antalyaspor in the winter. The local federation intends to finish the season, but so far no final decision has been made. If football in the country is still given the green light, then Kudryashov will be able to compete for the Turkish Cup, where his team reached the semifinals. In the championship, “scorpions” are located in the middle of the standings.

Goalkeeper Anton Mitryushkin was more fortunate. In Switzerland, it was announced that football matches could be resumed on June 8, but exact dates have not yet been announced. So the “Sion”, where the Russian goalkeeper plays, still retains chances to win the Cup of the country, but when the quarterfinal match against “Rapperswil-Yona” will take place, is still unknown. In the national championship, the Mitryushkin club will be forced to fight for survival, since it is only four points from the relegation zone.