The defeat of Spartak in a closed derby and the first victory of Nikolic
Fans of "Rostov" will be able to get to the guest match of the 23rd round of the RPL with Sochi, which will be held on June 19, if they present the latest test results, "confirming their lack of COVID-19." This was reported by the club from Rostov-on-Don on its official website. At the same time, an organized departure of fans to Sochi will not be carried out.
It was originally planned that Sochi and Rostov would play in empty stands, but last week the authorities of the Krasnodar Territory gave permission to fill stadiums during sporting events to 10% of their capacity.
Meanwhile, the Russian Football Union (RFU) decided on the home stadiums of Tambov and Orenburg. The first club was allowed to hold matches in one of the arenas hosting the 2018 World Cup games, and the second in the Gazovik stadium, which corresponds only to the second category.
Prior to the pause, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tambov mainly accepted rivals in the Premier League in Saransk at the Mordovia Arena, but it could resume the season in Nizhny Novgorod. It was also reported that the RPL rookie is ready to swap places with the local team serving in the FNL.
Meanwhile, it is still not clear in which league the Khimki season will begin. The club, which had achieved an increase in class, was looking for investors, and the authorities in the region noted that they were not ready for spending at the level of the elite division. Nevertheless, the leadership of Khimki last week announced their desire to undergo licensing for participation in the RPL. However, on Tuesday, the club applied for licensing only at the FNL.
The remaining RPL teams continue to prepare for the season and hold friendly matches. So, on June 14, Dynamo met with their principal rival Spartak and achieved a major victory - 4: 1. As part of the blue and white double designed Clinton N'Zhye. Also distinguished were the former captain of the red and white Sergey Parshivlyuk and Kirill Panchenko. The only ball of Spartak chalked up Jordan Larsson.
The meeting was closed, only Dynamo head coach Kirill Novikov reported on its result and goals authors in his Instagram account.
Another metropolitan team, Lokomotiv, achieved their first victory under the leadership of Marco Nikolic. Railway workers with a minimum score beat the Tambov. The only goal scored by 21-year-old midfielder Dmitry Rybchinsky.
In anticipation of the meeting, the first individual training after recovering from the coronavirus was conducted by goalkeeper Red-Green Anton Kochenkov. But the brothers Anton and Alexei Miranchuk, Dmitry Barinov, Rifat Zhemaletdinov and Solomon Kverkvelia did not participate in the match. The coaching staff decided to save these players before the resumption of the season.
In addition to the players, the judges began active preparations for the restart of the RPL. From June 16 to June 18 they will hold a training camp at a base in Kratovo near Moscow. In total, 24 referees will take part in it. Before the start of classes, all of them were tested for coronavirus.
Position for Arshavin and Zenit's interest in Simeon’s son
As for transfer rumors, at the beginning of the week there was information about the transfer of several Zenit players to European clubs at once. In recent months, talk of a possible move to Italy of striker blue-white-blue Serdar Azmuna has not ceased. However, the Spanish journalist Francesc Aguilar wrote on his Twitter that the Iranian could go to Arsenal. Allegedly a football player Andrei Arshavin recommended to the “gunners”.
By the way, Arshavin himself, according to the famous journalist and insider Nobel Arustamyan, from August 1, can take a position in the structure of “Zenith”. It is reported that the club’s sports director Javier Ribalta proposed making Arshavin his deputy, so that later, when the former captain of the Russian national team would gain experience, “transfer matters to him”.
Meanwhile, in England it was reported that Tottenham Hotspur continues to follow Artyom Dziuba. The striker’s contract with Zenit expires at the end of June, and nothing is known about its extension. Londoners, in addition to the Russians, are considering the candidacy of the defender Thomas Menjo, whose agreement with PSG is also coming to an end.
Another Russian Zenit footballer, whose contract expires in the summer with the club, Daler Kuzyaev, may leave for Europe. The largest sports publication in France L'equipe wrote about the interest in the 27-year-old midfielder from the side of “Marseille”. It is noted that the head coach of this team Andre-Villas Boash, who headed Zenit in 2014-2016, is personally interested in the player.
According to the publication, Spanish “Valencia” and German “Hoffenheim” also claim Kuzyaev. Moreover, it is with the last club, "negotiations are moving faster."
But about the possible gain for the “Zenith” they write not so much. An exception was the news of the Italian edition of Centotrentuno about the interest of the Russian club in the Fiorentina striker Giovanni Simeone, who currently stands for Cagliari on loan. In the current season of Serie A, the son of head coach of Atletico Diego Simeone scored six goals and gave four assists.
Tedesco interview and Musaev’s successful exam
In relation to other Russian clubs, transfer rumors practically did not arise in recent days. An exception was the statement of agent Wagner Love about the future of his client.
"Everyone thinks that he will return to Russia, but he can choose another option," - quotes Evandro Ferreira Globo Esporte.
Another former CSKA striker Seydou Doumbia can also return to Russia. This was stated by his representative Adrian Duran. According to him, the Ivorian, who is currently a free agent, has several proposals, including from domestic clubs.
For Krasnodar, the most important “transfer” was the permission of Murad Musaev to officially act as the head coach of the team. On June 15, he did everything necessary for this - he successfully passed the entrance exam for training for the Pro license and was enrolled in the Academy of Coaching Skills.
Krasnodar also extended contracts with goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk and striker Marcus Berg. The agreement with the Swede was prolonged for a year, and with the Russian only until the end of July. According to domestic media, the goalkeeper who does not form the basis of the southerners will leave the club at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Spartak returned the striker Alexander Rudenko from the lease to Torpedo, and also facilitated the return to the country of three legionnaires playing for the farm club: German defender Malcolm Badu, Italian goalkeeper Andrea Romagnoli and Georgian striker Nikoloz Kutateladze.
According to media reports, in order to get to Russia, they had to cross the border with Finland on bicycles, because they did not have the opportunity to do this by car or any other transport.
In the official account of the Russian Embassy in Finland on Tuesday a letter of thanks from Spartak was published, signed by the club’s general director Thomas Zorn.
Finally, the coach of the team Domenico Tedesco on the eve of the resumption of the season gave a great interview to one of the Russian publications. In particular, in it he explained the defeat in a friendly match with Dynamo by a large number of experiments.
The expert also said that midfielder Ayaz Guliyev, who was transferred to the farm club after a conflict with the coaching staff, “will not be in the team,” and admitted that he advocated the extension of the contract with Lorenzo Melgarejo. The coach also led the new agreement for himself.
“For me, the pressure of the media does not matter. Initially, Spartak offered me a contract for three years, but I myself asked to cut the term by half - I came to a country I don’t know the language of, I never worked with Spartak players, I did not know the club’s general director. It is not simple. In a year and a half, the club will have to recognize me. And if Spartak wants to extend the agreement, then we will calmly discuss everything, ”the Championship quotes Tedesco.