The first show of Spartak, the lack of forwards at Lokomotiv and the return of Mamaev: what is interesting about the tournament in Qatar

Fans interest and new member

The Parimatch Premier Cup is gradually becoming an integral part of Russian football. Although the tournament was held only for the third time, he quickly managed to fall in love with the fans. The thing is that in winter and summer, RPL fans traditionally remain on a kind of "hungry ration". A new match solved this problem. Now in Qatar and Austria in the offseason the strongest teams of the country gather.

Moreover, this trophy is not the first of its kind. So, in the mid-2000s, the First Channel Cup was played in Israel with the participation of Ukrainian and Russian top clubs. And he also aroused great interest among fans. Thus, the organizers of the cup in Qatar met the demands of domestic football fans. Yes, and such a tournament is important for the clubs themselves, because they get the opportunity to conduct matches that are close to official in level, already at the initial stage of preparation.

It is also important that the grands will gather again in Doha. RPL will be represented by one of the most popular teams in the country “Spartak”, the recent champion “Locomotive” and surprise everyone “Rostov”.

It will be especially interesting to watch Spartak, for which the meetings at the Parimatch Premier Cup will be the first of the year, because at the first training camp in Abu Dhabi, Domenico Tedesco refused control games. But the specialist exhausted the wards with serious physical exertion to get in shape for the resumption of the season.

“In training, it’s easier to control the load, it is more predictable. If we plan that the team should run two kilometers, they will run two kilometers, if you need to make 200 meters of jerks - the team will make exactly 200 meters of jerks. In the game you cannot control it. If the ball is next to the footballer, he will make a breakthrough in any case, ”Tedesco quotes“ Championship ”.

Lokomotiv, on the contrary, held friendly matches quite actively, but in three matches it failed to win a single victory: two draws and one defeat. As for Rostov, the fans of the team look to the future with optimism. More recently, rumors appeared about the club’s serious financial problems, but in the winter the blue and yellow re-signed contracts with a number of leaders and seem ready to storm at least second place. In addition, Pavel Mamaev, who has served a prison term, will enter the field as a yellow-blue player.

The fourth participant in the tournament will be the eight-time champion of Serbia, Partizan. At the moment, the team is in second place in the national championship, second only to the rival Crvene Zvezda. Russian fans will be curious to watch the Serbian team, if only because Bibras Natho and Zoran Tosic speak for him, who played almost 400 matches in the RPL for two.

Traditionally, there are enough young homegrown talents as part of Partizan. For example, the rights to 18-year-old central defender Strakhina Pavlovich have already been bought by Monaco, and next season he may intersect with Alexander Golovin. And left-winger Filip Stevanovic at the age of 17 is an indispensable player in Partizan and will soon leave Serbia for sure.

A derby fight in Austria and Spartak championship in Qatar

The undoubted advantage of the Parimatch Premier Cup can be called far from the comradely nature of the meetings. The rivals who are well-known on the RPL give all their best 100% and do not remove their legs at the joints. It is enough to recall the derby in Austria between Spartak and CSKA, when Luis Adriano and Kirill Nababkin almost met in hand-to-hand combat. The brawl between them almost escalated into a mass brawl, and even a judge who tried to calm the players got into it.

As a result, the referee removed only Nababkin, which caused outrage at the coaching bench of the army. Subsequently, the teams decided to play in equal compositions, but the referee, guided by the letter of the rules, did not allow this.

CSAR, like last year, did not fly to Qatar, and fans will not see the derby. But Valery Karpin will again get the opportunity to substitute the bandwagon to his native Spartak, where he left not without scandal. By the way, in official meetings, “Rostov” under the guidance of a specialist beat the red-white three times. And in the duel of the last round of 2019 at the Otkrytie Arena, a defeat took place at all - 4: 1. Southerners also turned out to be stronger at the last Parimatch Premier Cup in Austria.

The format of the changes itself has not undergone. Four teams will play again in a round-robin system "each with each." In this case, in the event of a tie, the opponents will have to beat a series of penalties, which is especially loved by many fans.

But to predict the results of the tournament is very difficult. For example, a year ago in Qatar, Spartak turned out to be the strongest. Red and White won three matches with a total score of 9: 1 and showed attractive football. “Zenith” wards Oleg Kononov completely defeated - 3: 0. But in the spring, there was no trace of the team’s former gloss, and she finished in the RPL standings only fifth.

“Zenith”, on the contrary, looked faded, lost both to “Spartak” and “Lokomotiv”, having conceded three goals in both meetings. But as a result, in May, Petersburgers celebrated the conquest of the long-awaited championship. In Austria, CSKA lost all three matches, which did not prevent the army team from starting the season in the fight for medals. So in Qatar, and this time, unexpected results will suffice, which will be caused, among other things, by the different physical readiness of the teams.