The confrontation between Spartak and CSKA is doomed to become the main event of the RPL tour, regardless of the circumstances. Whatever place the opponents occupy in the standings, great attention is always riveted to the Moscow derby, and success in it can radically change the overall impression of the teams' performance in the season. However, this time it is also remarkable for the reason that the winner can not only gain the upper hand over a principled opponent, but also increase the chances of winning a ticket to the Champions League. At the moment the teams are on the third and fifth lines, respectively, two and three points behind the second Lokomotiv.

Of course, a ticket to the main European Cup is a significant motivation for each of the derby participants. The last time CSKA played in the Champions League was in the 2018/19 season, and Spartak a year earlier, but both failed to achieve serious success. Although CSKA gave their fans a lot of positive emotions thanks to victories over Real Madrid, they still took fourth place in the group, and the red and white? even though they managed to bypass Maribor and qualify for the Europa League playoffs, they hardly like to remember that campaign. This is due to the crushing defeat to Liverpool at Anfield with a score of 0: 7, which became the largest in the history of the club on the international stage.

Three and four years have passed since the last performance of CSKA and Spartak in the Champions League, but during this time none of the teams has been able to make significant progress in the game. The talented youth of the red and blue have not yet justified the advances given to them, which is clearly noticeable not only in the matches of the Russian championship, but also in the Europa League. In 12 meetings held over the next two years, they won only one victory and suffered six defeats, including large beats by far from the most stellar “Ludogorets” (1: 5). Talk about a lack of motivation after triumphs over Real Madrid is best left aside - they are hardly a worthy excuse for such failures.

As for Spartak, in 2018 the team was just as unconvincing in the Europa League and finished only fourth in the quartet. It is worth noting that he had to compete with more eminent rivals than the army team - Villarreal, Rapid and Rangers, but this does not change the essence. Plus, over the past two years, the red and white did not even get to the group stage of the second most important championship of the continent. First, the Portuguese Braga got in the way, and the absence of the next European Cup season was due to the failure in the national championship. Domenico Tedesco's charges took only seventh place.

Undoubtedly, in the second year of work under the guidance of a German specialist, the red and whites made significant progress. If in the previous championship they were in the immediate vicinity of the relegation zone for a long time, in the current one they even were in the lead in the standings and still claim gold medals. True, at a key moment, problems in defense appeared again, which threw Spartak back to third place. If they managed to cope with Rostov, which is going through a difficult period, having conceded two goals, then with Lokomotiv it did not work out. At the same time, the fiasco in the meeting with “Ufa” defies any logic at all and is hardly acceptable for a team seriously claiming to get into the Champions League.

CSKA is no better. But if Spartak still has to restructure after the change of coach (Tedesco has not yet changed his decision to leave at the end of the season), then the main antagonist is already experiencing its consequences. But questions are still raised by both the choice of the specialist himself and the extent to which it was expedient to initiate this process on the eve of the final stage of the championship. Yes, so far there is nothing to blame Ivica Olic for, but there is no reason to hope for a sudden transformation either. If the leadership of the army team hoped that the change of the coach would affect the mood of the players and cause an emotional outburst within the team, then this plan did not work. The crushing defeat from Sochi and the departure from the Russian Cup is evidence of this.

Now everything is developing in such a way that Spartak and CSKA should not think about winning a ticket to the Champions League, but about improving the quality of their own game and solving problems. And they both have enough. The former are among the seven most conceding teams in the Premier League (33 goals) and so far cannot cope with it. Pavel Maslov, although he has talent, makes too many mistakes, and Samuel Zhigot and Georgy Djikia do not have a worthy substitute at all. Regular failures in defense are also facilitated by Ayrton's reckless actions with Victor Moses, who do not have time or are not eager to work out from behind. In addition, the dependence on Alexander Sobolev is increasingly manifested. Suffice it to say that in the spring part, the red-and-white never scored points if the forward did not score.

You can also recall the problems when playing the first number with the teams deliberately giving up the initiative, the absence of a "plan B" in case they failed to distinguish themselves first, as well as uncertain actions in the support zone. Tedesco still lacks a full-fledged destroyer who can act as a breakwater and thus reduce the burden on center-backs. There has been talk of acquiring a player like this since the departure of Lucas Fernando.

If you believe the statistics, the army team's defense is all right (only Zenit conceded less), but in the end of the championship everything runs the risk of changing. At the moment, only three out of eight defenders are healthy - clearly not enough to fight on equal terms for a ticket to the Champions League. Moreover, Herdur Magnusson will definitely not return to service until the end of the season, and the state of health of Bruno Fuchs is a mystery to CSKA fans. The Brazilian spent only 12 minutes for the team, after which he was registered in the infirmary.

Not everything is smooth in other lines either. Nikola Vlašić is not capable of pulling the team alone, and his partners do not provide decent support. Fedor Chalov finally wilted, who had never appeared on the field from the first minutes after the arrival of Jose Salomon Rondon, Chidera Edzhuke still cannot find a balance between the concepts of “effective” and “effective”. If all this prevents CSKA from consistently performing at the level of the Russian championship, then it is difficult to imagine how strongly this will affect the most prestigious European Cup.

Considering the above, the upcoming meeting between Spartak and CSKA is more logical to perceive not through the prism of the struggle for a ticket to the Champions League, but solely as a confrontation between two irreconcilable rivals in the RPL. The latest results of domestic clubs in European competition clearly demonstrate that it is extremely difficult for them to provide worthy competition in the international arena. And this even applies to Zenit, which has practically not met any resistance in the national championship over the past three years.

To seriously think about the Champions League, the same CSKA and Spartak first need to clearly define the vector of development, strengthen their weak positions and gain stability in the domestic arena. Of course, at the level of the Russian championship, both teams are rightly considered to be giants and one of the most attractive teams in the country, but in Europe this is clearly not enough.