Bakaev's debut, surprises from Abaskal and the curse of Spartak in St. Petersburg: the main questions of the Super Bowl

Will Spartak be able to break the curse of St. Petersburg?

Zenit has long turned into one of the most unpleasant rivals for Spartak.

Petersburgers practically do not make misfires in the confrontation with the Muscovites and, one gets the impression, they are superior to their principled opponent in the class.

The statistics eloquently confirm this.

For example, the team from the banks of the Neva suffered the last defeat from the red-and-whites in November 2017, when it was still led by Roberto Mancini, and his counterpart was his compatriot Massimo Carrera.

With the arrival of Sergei Semak on the coaching bridge, she won five wins with four draws.

It is especially difficult for Spartak in St. Petersburg, where the capital team has not won for more than ten years - since May 2012.

Then the guests under the leadership of Valery Karpin, having missed first, got the most important three points thanks to the goals of Emmanuel Emenike and Rafael Carioca in the end - 3:2.

This success allowed them to finish second and qualify for the Champions League.

None of the participants in the memorable match remained among the opponents.

But the replacement was Semak, who even managed to excel.

Since then, the red-whites have come to the Northern capital 11 times and have suffered nine defeats with two peaceful outcomes.

And the final game at the Gazprom Arena ended in a fiasco - 1:7.

Now Muscovites, already led by Guillermo Abascal, will try to break an unpleasant series, but it will not be easy to do so.

Zenit at home is eager to start the new season successfully, repeat CSKA's record for the number of Super Cups (seven) and win the honorary trophy for the third time in a row.

How will Bakaev be received by fans of both teams?

The main character of the derby should be Zelimkhan Bakaev.

The Spartak graduate left the club this summer, noting that he was not offered to renew his expiring contract, and joined the defending champions as a free agent.

The very fact of moving from one team to another carries great reputational risks.

Suffice it to recall Vladimir Bystrov and Artyom Dziuba, who are still disliked by fans of both teams.

However, Zelimkhan will certainly receive a smaller portion of the negative.

Firstly, unlike his predecessors, he left Moscow without a loud scandal.

Secondly, in the eyes of the Red and White fans, he remained a player whom the leadership did not want to keep, but not a grabber.

Thirdly, he was not remembered for harsh statements about Zenit as Bystrov, and therefore will not cause rejection among local football fans.

It is much more interesting what role Semak will play for the newcomer in the debut meeting.

It is possible that he will entrust him with a place in the starting lineup, realizing that this game will be special for the midfielder, and he will be eager to prove to the guests that they refused his services in vain.

Moreover, in the last two friendly games of Zenit, Zelimkhan appeared on the field from the first minutes.

In addition, he performed well in the matches of the PARI Premier Cup: he scored a goal against Sochi and an assist in the confrontation with CSKA.

What will Abascal bring to Spartak's game?

If Semak has been working with Zenit for more than a year, then Abaskal came to Spartak only at the beginning of June.

In just a month, the Spaniard will not be easy to radically change the pattern of the game.

However, according to the three control meetings that the red-whites held under the guidance of a new mentor, some conclusions can be drawn.

For example, a young coach, apparently, is not going to give up one of his favorite schemes - 4-3-3.

Muscovites used it exactly in the matches with Baltika (3:2) and Yenisei (3:0).

The first game with "Alania" (2:2) was held behind closed doors.

It is curious that the company of Alexander Sobolev and Quincy Promes in the attack was the nominal midfielder Mikhail Ignatov.

The experiment turned out to be successful.

The Russian, moving from the right flank, actively combined with his colleagues and opened the scoring with a beautiful long-range shot in the confrontation with the Kaliningraders.

And a place in the top three midfielders was given to 19-year-old Daniil Denisov, who in the second half of last season was pulled up to the main team by Paolo Vanoli.

In two friendly matches, he spent an hour and, for sure, will appear on the field from the first minutes in St. Petersburg.

In general, Spartak, in accordance with Abascal's coaching credo, tried to demonstrate combinational attacking football, and in case of losses, included high pressure.

The physical form of the red-whites also left a good impression.

But it is necessary to make allowances for the class of opponents playing in the FNL.

For comparison, Zenit won the PARI Premier Cup, leaving behind Sochi, CSKA and Paris Nizhny Novgorod, and then turned out to be stronger than the reigning champions of Serbia, Red Stars - 2:1.  

Will Abaskal be able to combine Promes and Zinkovsky on the field?

Also, Abaskal will have to solve an important task - to combine two one-plan wards: Promes and newcomer Anton Zinkovsky.

Both prefer to act on the left flank of the attack, and therefore it is curious what exit the specialist will find.

The Dutchman demonstrated with his game at the training camp in Tarasovka that he would not give way to a competitor at the start.

He scored seven goals in three matches.

The pupil of "Chertanovo" never got into the base and entered the game immediately after the break.

If in a duel with Baltika he was not remembered for anything, then in a meeting with Enisey he performed an excellent cutting assist on Alexander Sobolev.

The Samara connection worked.

At this moment, the recruit was acting just on the left, and Promes went to the right edge.

But with the appearance of Daniil Khlusevich, Anton moved into the zone of Bakaev, who moved to Zenit, and Quincy went to the spearhead of the attack.

Thus, it can be assumed that on July 9, Zinkovsky will most likely remain in reserve.

But in the future, the headquarters will find options for both of them to come out from the first minutes.

For example, a Russian can still be used on the right flank, although there he will not have the opportunity to move to the penalty area under the working leg.

Will the unplayed pair of central defenders of Spartak cope with Sergeyev and Cassierra?

But in the center of defense at Spartak, the competition is not so serious.

If Samuel Gigot had not left Russia in the summer, Muscovites could boast of one of the strongest defensive RPL duets.

But the departure of the Frenchman threatens to turn into serious difficulties.

Positions of Giorgi Jikia are unshakable, but it is not easy to find a worthy partner for him.

At the training camp, Abaskal trusted Nikita Chernov, but his candidacy is not ideal.

First, he is more accustomed to operating with a three central scheme, while the new mentor prefers to use two people in this zone.

Secondly, the pupil of CSKA periodically makes gross positional mistakes.

What is worth at least a lost match to Rostov at the end of last season, when Nikita missed Roman Tugarev behind his back, allowed him to break into the penalty area and open an account.

But Maximiliano Cofrie allows himself even more blots and, under Abascal, is content with only substitutions.

And Pavel Maslov just recovered from a serious injury.

Therefore, the game for the Super Bowl will be the first serious test of strength for the duo.

It will be especially difficult for players who are not famous for their high speed in the confrontation with the newcomer of Zenit Mateo Cassierra.

The Colombian showed his high level in the very first game for St. Petersburg against Red Star, when he appeared as a substitute and a few minutes later converted a one-on-one exit.

However, Ivan Sergeev will most likely appear on the cutting edge, who will be assisted by Malcolm and Bakaev.

Will Semak entrust a place at the last frontier to Odoevsky?

Petersburgers also have their own problematic positions.

First of all, we are talking about the goalkeeper line.

Stanislav Kritsyuk left the team in the summer, and Semak stayed with Mikhail Kerzhakov and Daniil Odoevsky.

Later, Brazilian Ivan Quaresma, rented from Corinthians, will arrive in Russia, but he will not take part in the Super Cup.

It seemed that a more experienced performer should get a place at the base, but the fans would not be surprised if the staff trusted the 19-year-old pupil of the club's academy.

In the off-season, he played more than a competitor (215 minutes versus 135) and conceded less (one goal versus two).

Plus, it was Odoevsky who spent the entire game with CSKA, in which the Petersburgers achieved a crushing victory - 3: 0.

Daniil confidently led the defense and kept his gate intact.

In the summer, only Kirill Gotsuk from Pari Nizhny Novgorod managed to upset him, but he had no chance to save his partners in the scoring episode.

Kerzhakov, on the contrary, in the match with Red Star, allowed Alexander Katai to score with a shot in the near corner.

Will the Super Bowl be without refereeing scandal?

Many derbies between Zenit and Spartak are overshadowed by judicial scandals.

For example, in 2020, Sergei Ivanov's team made two controversial decisions at once, not in favor of the Muscovites in the semi-finals of the Russian Cup, and the Petersburgers went further.

This time there is hope that after the final whistle the fans will not have to discuss only the work of the referee.

Vladimir Moskalev was appointed to the game, who, according to the RFU, lost only to the experienced Vladislav Bezborodov in the list of the best referees of the country last season according to the RFU.

But Sergey Karasev, as in the case of the Russian Cup final, remained on the sidelines and is content with help at VAR.

This decision looks logical, because in the spring the native of Voronezh successfully served a number of key matches, in particular, the capital derby CSKA - Spartak in the quarterfinals of the Kyrgyz Republic, where he was not afraid to give a penalty to the army and remove Jean-Philippe Gbamin just before the whistle for a break.

He also fully coped with the key confrontation for silver medals between Dynamo and Sochi in the last round, and a few weeks before that, he sued the gold game for Zenit with Lokomotiv.

At the same time, Vladimir can be called a lucky judge for Spartak.

Under him, Muscovites in 16 matches suffered only one defeat and won ten victories.

For comparison, Zenit lost four times in 22 meetings.