Battle for Silver

At the end of April, it seemed that Sochi, CSKA and Krasnodar would fight for medals to the last.

Zenit and Dynamo, which had gone into the gap, had to play gold and silver, and the aforementioned trio had to compete for bronze.

But the wards of Sandro Schwartz failed the finish line, losing three times in a row (the same fate befell the team of Alexei Berezutsky), because of which the champion was determined ahead of schedule, but another intrigue arose in the championship - in the struggle for second place.

Now his fate will be decided in the face-to-face confrontation between Dynamo and Sochi, which the teams approached with an equal number of points - 53. But Dynamo has a slight advantage.

The first additional indicator is the games between themselves, and in the fall of last year, the blue and white won the most important away victory over a competitor with a minimum score.

Accordingly, a draw will suit them at home.

But, according to the former head coach of the blue and white Andrey Kobelev, it is unlikely that they will begin to move away from their attacking style because of this.

“I don’t think that Dynamo will try to act as number two.

During the season, Muscovites have already held several meetings in which they needed points, but did not deviate from their own principles.

I think this is the right decision.

I doubt that Muscovites will hope for a draw.

Going out and fighting back is wrong.

And the young guys themselves do not want to do it.

The southerners will try to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, ”the specialist said in an interview with RT.

He also suggested that the match would be productive, and highly appreciated the football demonstrated by Sochi.

Sochi shows albeit pragmatic, but bold and confident football with a lot of short and medium passes, good control.

Therefore, the match should be productive.

We are waiting for a meeting for three results, ”Kobelev added.

Fight for survival

The struggle for survival promises to turn out to be no less interesting, because five teams risk getting into the play-offs at once, and only Arsenal lost their chances of salvation.

Moreover, two of them will converge with each other.

Rubin will host Ufa in Kazan.

Wards of Leonid Slutsky are ahead of the pursuer by two points, and therefore they will be satisfied with a draw.

"Ufa" with a successful scenario in case of victory can avoid joints.

The hosts are preparing for this game as for the final.

So, the players and coaches bought all the tickets so that the fans could come to the stands for free.

However, according to the ex-mentor of the two-time champions of Russia Roman Sharonov, this does not make them favorites.

“First of all, I am interested in how boldly the head coaches, Slutsky and Alexei Stukalov, will behave in the decisive match.

In Russia, there is a stereotype that playing defensively gives results, but this is far from always true.

The bottom line is how the team attacks and defends, ”the specialist emphasized.

It is also curious whether Hamid Agalarov, the top scorer of the RPL at the moment, will be able to overcome the bar of 20 goals.

At the moment, he has 19 goals in his asset.

The forward is quite capable of doing this, the coach believes.

“But I don’t think it’s worth reducing everything to his performance.

The game of the team cannot depend on one performer, since football is a team sport.

And Hamid is not alone on the pitch,” Sharonov stressed.

Correspondence struggle for joints

Two other teams that are at risk of going to the joints, Nizhny Novgorod and Ural, will face off against opponents who have lost their tournament motivation.

Yekaterinburgers will test Arsenal, which has not known victories since December.

It will be extremely difficult for Tula to interrupt an unpleasant series.

However, Dmitry Parfyonov, who led them until September last year, is sure that the Gunners will not play giveaway.

“Firstly, it’s not yet a fact that they will fly out directly, since it’s unclear whether they will expand the Premier League before next season ... Secondly, they must at least in the last round rehabilitate themselves in front of the fans, and not make another spit on them in face.

There are rumors that the club is experiencing financial difficulties and risks not even playing in the FNL, but it is difficult for me to comment on them.

As far as I know, the governor of the region supports the team and is not going to abandon it.

Therefore, it will definitely not be easy for Ural.

We are waiting for the fight, ”the coach promised.

He also insists that Zenit, which once again guaranteed itself the championship ahead of schedule, will not want to help Nizhny Novgorod under the leadership of the club's legend from St. Petersburg, Alexander Kerzhakov.

“Petersburgers will play at home with their fans.

In addition, Sergei Semak at the finish line has the opportunity to rely on reservists who received less practice during the season.

Let's not forget that someone needs to extend the contract and stay in the team, and someone needs to earn certain bonuses.

Therefore, there is no talk of a holiday mood.

These are professional athletes and no one is obliged to set them up.

If you don’t have enough mood, it’s better to finish, ”added Parfenov.

Nizhny Novgorod and Ural can only hope that Khimki and Rubin will be defeated.

In this case, they are guaranteed to remain in the elite division.

The risk of repeating the anti-record

At the same time, the Moscow Region team in the 30th round is waiting for the hardest test - a home meeting with Spartak, in which it is vital to score three points.

On the one hand, the red-whites have long lost their chances for medals, but on the other hand, they can still repeat the worst result in history in the national championship.

In case of defeat, they will remain in tenth place, as in 2003.

According to the ex-football player of the red and white Valery Kechinov, Muscovites will treat the meeting with the due degree of responsibility and distract themselves from thoughts about the final of the Russian Cup for 90 minutes.

The expert did not rule out a serious rotation from Paolo Vanoli.

“A normal professional athlete, entering the field, in any case strives to win.

First, they get a lot of money for this.

Secondly, Spartak supports a huge number of fans.

Finally, the reputation of the club is at stake.

A good player must act with 100% dedication in every match, without thinking about where the team is located, ”Kechinov emphasized.

At the same time, in the event of defeats by Akhmat and Krylya Sovetov and a misfire by Rostov, the red-whites have the opportunity to finish the season in seventh place, since they scored two victories over Grozny and Samarans.

But, according to Kechinov, for the players it does not really matter.

“Before, when I myself played for Spartak, such conversations could not even arise in the locker room.

For us then there was one position - the first.

All other lines did not play a role.

And now I don’t see much difference between the seventh and tenth places, ”the expert noted.

Challenge for Karpin

Finally, Valery Karpin can click on the nose of Spartak and get ahead of the former team in the standings.

To do this, it is enough for the yellow-blues to play no worse than the red-whites in the last round.

Southerners are waiting for an away confrontation with CSKA, which has fallen into a protracted crisis.

But Alexander Grishin, the former double mentor of the army team, believes that they will be able to get together in order to rehabilitate themselves in front of the fans and slam the door loudly.

“Yes, there are disturbing rumors around the club.

For example, they write about the possible departure of Alexei Berezutsky.

But until the news appears on the official website, you should not believe this.

It remains only to wait for the end of the season.

And the army team needs to do it on a positive note, beating Rostov.

Let the first three do not shine for them, you can still climb to the fourth line, so you need to fight to the end, ”summed up the specialist.

At the same time, after the final round, an amazing situation may arise in which four teams will share the seventh place at once.

This will happen in case of defeats of Akhmat from Krasnodar and Krylia Sovetov from Lokomotiv and victories of Rostov and Spartak.

And in this case, Spartak will also be ahead of everyone.