Karpin vs. Tedesco, Dziuba's meeting with the former team and CSKA black series: what makes the matches of the 1/8 finals of the Russian Cup interesting

The ordeal for the updated Spartak

The main event of the 1/8 finals of the Russian Cup in football will be the confrontation between Moscow Spartak and Rostov. The fate of the red and white is, in principle, interesting to many fans, and after joining the team of Domenico Tedesco, excitement began around it. After all, the German immediately set up a real revolution in the team, switching to a new tactical scheme and finding other uses for some leaders, for example, Zelimkhan Bakaev. As a result, Spartak scored four points in the last two rounds of the RPL, never missed it, and most importantly, defeated Lokomotiv in the derby.

Now they will be waiting for the “continuation of the banquet” from the red-and-white in the Cup of the country, where the rival of the metropolitan team will be the leader in the fight for the Rostov medals. Of course, Valery Karpin will try to upset the club, with which he won silver in the national championship as a coach and played in the Champions League, especially since he left the team not without scandal. Also, several football players with a Spartak past play for Rostov at once: Roman Eremenko, Ivelin Popov and Sergey Pesyakov.

Recently, Spartak has been experiencing difficulties in matches against Rostov and has not been able to beat yellow-blue in official matches for more than two years.

As for the confrontation between the teams in the Russian Cup, for the last time in the framework of this tournament, the paths of the rivals crossed exactly seven years ago, also at the 1/8 final stage. The main and extra time of the match then ended in a goalless draw, and in the penalty shootout, “Rostov” turned out to be more successful - 3: 2. Of the participants in that meeting, there was no one left in the team from the south of Russia, but Artyom Rebrov and Jano Ananidze still play for Spartak. True, they should not be expected to enter the field on Thursday.

The second composition of CSKA and the chance of “Ufa”

In turn, the principal rival of Spartak - Moscow CSKA - will try to interrupt the unsuccessful series in a duel with Ufa. CSKA did not know victories in all tournaments for the past five meetings, and in the Europa League they suffered three defeats in a row with a total difference of 1: 8 goals scored and goals conceded. The physical condition of the wards of Viktor Goncharenko clearly leaves much to be desired, and on Saturday the team will face the most important confrontation with Zenit in St. Petersburg.

Based on this, it can be assumed that the second composition of the army will play with Ufa, as it was in Vladikavkaz in the 1/16 final. This will give the Bashkortostans an excellent opportunity to break into the quarterfinals, especially since the team of Vadim Evseev turned into an uncomfortable opponent for CSKA. In the last two matches, the army team invariably missed the victory, reducing the game to a draw (just a week and a half ago the teams played in Ufa - 1: 1). Therefore, it is worth noting that the chances of CSKA for the first time since 2016 to break into the quarterfinal of the Cup of the country are not very high.

A trip to St. Petersburg with faith in a miracle

Zenit, unlike CSKA Moscow, will have an opponent in the 1/8 finals of the Cup of Russia much easier - located in ninth place in the standings of the FNL Tom team. Once the Siberians “rustled” in the Premier League, but now they do not grab stars from the sky. However, at the previous stage of the Cup, the wards of Vasily Baskakov reminded themselves of themselves, having defeated Tambov at home - 4-0.

If the “Tom” also passes the “Zenith”, it will become a real sensation. To some extent, the Tomsk citizens will have a chance at the rotation of the squad, which Sergei Semak will probably resort to on the eve of the confrontation with CSKA.

So, for example, Artyom Dziuba should get some rest, who, in a recent game with Wings of the Soviets, came out only as a replacement due to minor damage. Although the striker himself would love to play with the team, which included a lot of bright matches.

However, even without him, Semak has someone to provide playing time for, as many rivals could envy the Zenit roster. So, Jordan Osorio, Robert Mack, Matias Kranevitter, Leon Musaev, Alexander Erokhin, Daler Kuzyaev and Alexey Sutormin rarely appear on the field. In the match with Tomyu they will try to do everything to establish themselves before the coaching staff, so the guests will frankly have few chances.

Repetition of the semifinals and the daring “Khimki”

Of the other confrontations in the 1/8 finals, it is worth highlighting the match between Ural and Arsenal. The teams quite recently, in the spring of 2019, met in the semifinals of the Cup, and then the Yekaterinburg team won by the sum of two matches. However, the Tula players eventually got a place in European competitions, as the team of Dmitry Parfyonov lost to Lokomotiv in the decisive match, and Arsenal took the coveted sixth place in the RPL. This time, “Ural” will try to once again leave the opponent overboard and continue on to the third final in four years.

Two more RPL teams have to face off with representatives of the FNL. Akhmat will receive Luch, and Orenburg will accept Khimki. In both cases, teams from the Premier League can hardly be called one hundred percent favorites. Grozny residents are currently struggling for survival in the RPL and have already survived the change of coach, and Orenburgers will have to meet with the second team of the country's second most powerful league. “Khimki” in the current season really delight the fans with their game, and at the previous stage of the Cup, “Rubin” was knocked out of the fight, and they achieved a confident victory - 3: 0.

Torpedo on the way to the quarter finals

In the two remaining pairs at the stage of the 1/8 finals of the tournament, the fate of the tickets to the next round will be determined between the FNL teams. The leader of the championship “Torpedo” will take the “Baltic”. It is curious that the rivals will play a second time in five days. On Saturday, as part of the FNL, they parted in peace in Kaliningrad (1: 1), and now they will have a match in the capital.

“Torpedo” this season is seen as the main contender for access to the RPL, but in the second half of October the team slowed down a bit and took only four points in the last three matches. “Baltika”, on the contrary, after an unsuccessful start, scored a good move and has not lost in the FNL for 14 consecutive matches. And at the previous stage of the Cup, the team of Yevgeny Kaleshin, in addition, sensationally left the current owner of the Lokomotiv trophy out of work.

Finally, “Nizhny Novgorod” in the confrontation with “Shinnik” will try for the first time in the club’s history to break into the quarterfinals of the Cup of the country. At the same time, Yaroslavl are an extremely inconvenient rival for Nizhny Novgorod. In six matches, the team suffered five defeats. One of them was in the 1/8 finals of the Cup of Russia-2017/18. “Shinnik” then defeated the opponent at home - 4: 0, but lost to the Kursk “Vanguard” in the semifinal.