Revolution in "Spartak"

The Match Premier Cup has become an excellent opportunity for fans to follow the state of Rubin and Spartak's approach to the new season.

In the first round, the teams looked quite cheerful and were marked by confident victories.

Kazan, although they beat Khimki with a minimum score thanks to a goal from Khvichi Kvaratskhelia in the 90th minute, had an undeniable advantage and could have scored more.

The red-and-white ones did send four unanswered goals to the Sochi goal and delighted their fans.

Rui Vitoria, in just a month of being in the team, seriously changed the game of the wards.

From the period of Domenico Tedesco, there seems to be no trace left in it.

Muscovites abandoned the formation with three central defenders and switched to the 4-2-3-1 formation.

And most importantly, the football they demonstrated has completely changed: Spartak began to rely on the historically short passes that are more typical of the team and practically stopped playing long ones.

The vice-champions regularly tried to create overload on the flanks, and when they lost they came under pressure.

Plus, players who went on loan or did not get enough practice last season got their chance.

Almost all of them showed themselves.

Zelimkhan Bakaev and Reziuan Mirzov scored two points for performance.

Young Mikhail Ignatov, who took the top ten, gave an assist, and Georgy Melkadze did a lot of work.

It was even more interesting to look at the achievements of Vitoria in the confrontation with a stronger and better prepared opponent at the moment - Rubin.

At the same time, the Portuguese made two castles in the starting lineup compared to the previous meeting: Alexander Selikhov replaced Alexander Maksimenko at the last line, and Victor Moses replaced Ignatov.

Bakaev had to take a place under the striker, and not on the right edge.

As for Slutsky, he put forward a composition close to optimal, and he found an opportunity to combine Kvaratskhelia and the newcomer Sead Khakshabanovich at the base.

Also, Karl Starfelt was not even included in the application, who with a high degree of probability will move to Celtic.

His place in the center of defense was taken by a young Ukrainian Konstantin Nizhegorodov, the son of the former defender of the Russian national team and Lokomotiv Gennady.

Self-dedication Melkadze and Bakaev in the top ten

Perhaps the main impression left after watching the first half is the good physical readiness of both teams for the season.

Ten days before the start of the new RPL rally, the rivals acted at fairly high speeds, despite the heat.

This should not come as a surprise, since both Rubin and Spartak will also start in the European qualification in August.

The red and white, as in the meeting with Sochi, relied on a quick start.

This moment can already be called the trademark of the vice-champion of the country at Vitoria.

Actually, in the first minutes, the Muscovites created several dangerous moments and earned a penalty.

Melkadze cleverly set himself up for a foul by George Despotovich, and Moses confidently converted the penalty spot.

On the whole, George again left the most positive impression.

Ahead, he fought to the end in every episode and fought with maximum dedication for all the balls.

The striker feels that he has the opportunity to finally start playing at the base of the home team and is doing everything possible to take advantage of it.

At the same time, we must not forget that in addition to the remaining Alexander Sobolev, Victoria also has Jordan Larsson and Ezequiel Ponese, who left for the Argentine Olympic team.

Bakaev in the top ten did not look as dangerous as on the flank, but he was still one of the most prominent players in the red and white squad.

Moses was also quite active on the right edge.

But Mirzov on the left flank abused the stroke and often lost the ball.

Rubin, quickly conceding, seized the initiative, but began to create chances only closer to the break.

Of course, most of the transfers from Kazan made Kvaratskhelia to the left.

At first, Nikolai Rasskazov was quite confident in dealing with the Georgian.

There was an idea that the defender with his game could deserve a place at the base at the start of the season.

But then he still missed a couple of dangerous cutting passes behind his back.

The question of buying a right-back remains open.

It was also restless on the left flank of Spartak's defense, where Ayrton faced Saltmurad Bakaev.

Traditionally, the Brazilian did not always have time to return for his counterpart from the attack.

In official matches, his connections can become a problem for the team, given the transition to a system with two central defenders.

The Kazanians spent most of their attacks on the edges.

At the same time, Hakshabanovic was located under Despotovic and at first was not very noticeable, like the Serbian striker himself.

However, then the Montenegrin, together with Kvaratskhelia, began to change places.

The newcomer on the home flank looked noticeably sharper.

In the center of the field, he did not feel so comfortable.

To summarize: it will not be easy for Slutsky to unite two technical footballers at the base.

But another recruit of the team, experienced Vladislav Ignatiev, spent a good 45 minutes.

In general, he acted reliably and did not allow Mirzov to feel confident in himself.

It is very curious who, in the end, Slutsky will entrust the place in the base, him or Georgy Zotov.

Zobnin's masterpiece and Sobolev's second goal in the tournament

The second half left an exclusively complementary impression of Spartak's game, since the red-and-white simply crushed the opponent and scored three goals in seven minutes.

During the break, Vitoria made a number of substitutions: he threw Maksimenko, Georgy Dzhikia, Roman Zobnin, Ignatov and Sobolev into the fight.

And these reshuffles immediately bore fruit.

Firstly, Bakaev got the opportunity to go to the right flank, and Ignatov was located under the attacker.

Michael again proved to be excellent.

He acted great in playing along, sank into the depths for the ball and famously dispersed the team's attacks.

As a result, the young midfielder became the author of two assists at once.

First, he assisted Sobolev, who scored the second goal in the tournament, and then - Zobnin.

The novel was noted for a very beautiful and unusual goal. Having received the transfer, he removed two defenders at once on the swing, beat Yuri Dupin and delivered an accurate blow to the near corner. After the match against Sochi, when the Russian national team player appeared on the field only in the 65th minute and in the unusual position of the top ten, some fans began to worry about his future. It is important for Vitoria to have two players with good passing in the support zone, such as Jorrit Hendrix and Nail Umyarov. Zobnin has other strong qualities. But in a meeting with Rubin, he showed that he would not give up his place at the base just like that.

Ignatov, in addition to two assists, earned a free kick, which turned into a goal from Djikia. While the talented graduate of the club academy, who got a chance at the base back in 2018, feels like a fish in water in the tactical arrangement of the new coach. I really want to believe that a capable athlete will finally play consistently in the RPL, and not go back to Spartak-2.

And in general, red and white look very powerful in summer.

Under Vitoria's leadership, they have scored 16 goals in five matches, and have not yet conceded in two Premier Cup matches.

The devastating victories over Sochi and Rubin practically guaranteed them victory in the tournament, although, theoretically, by the difference between the Muscovites, the southerners can bypass.

But the collections have not yet gained the ideal form, and the red and white mainly make the game at the expense of the reservists.

So, Quincy Promes and Jordan Larsson got at their disposal only 25 minutes each.

It is difficult to draw conclusions on the game of Kazan in the second half.

The team went ahead, began to open up and provided the opponent with a lot of free space.

With the departure of the reliable Oliver Abilgore, the support zone completely disintegrated.

Leon Musaev alone was unable to cope with the Spartak team.

The departure of Starfelt's central defender was also a serious problem for Slutsky. It was difficult to expect a reliable game from 19-year-old Nizhegorodov. As expected, he did not always cope with the attackers, in particular, in the second half he easily missed Sobolev over and over again. He also allowed Zobnin to calmly beat himself in the episode with the third goal. However, the coaching staff gave the rookie all 90 minutes. But most likely, if in the near future the club does not work on the transfer market, the season will start at the base of Filip Uremovic and Silvie Begic.