Saturday, October 25, 2008

Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia; week 26

The best race is Football is winding down as the Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia heads into week 26. The campaign has only five weeks to go and Rubin Kazan is firmly entrenched to take the title with a hearty seven point lead on CSKA Moscow. The big battle is for the all-important for second place which earns a Champions League qualification whilst third to fifth earn UEFA Cup bids.

At present the second place spot, held by Koni has four teams vying for it, with fifth-placed Zenit Saint Petersburg nine points behind but equally have one additional match to play. With the UEFA Cup spots Kryliya Sovetov Samara, Spartak Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow have a distinct chance of landing the final spot, making every match in the remaining schedule of utmost importance. Of the key match-ups, naturally the wait for Rubin Kazan clinching the title is nearing and their match against Krysy is equally of massive importance for the Samara club as they fight to stay in the UEFA Cup race. Lokomotiv Moscow's visit of Amkar Perm is intriguing as the красно-черные Perm are tumbling down the table with only two points in the last three matches. A loss today by them, coupled with a Spartak Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg victory would see their European efforts take a significant blow.

Kryliya Sovetov Samara @ Rubin Kazan
Terek Grozny @ Spartak Moscow
Spartak Nalchik @ Shinnik Yaroslav
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok @ Khimki
Lokomotiv Moscow @ Amkar Perm'
Zenit St Petersburg @ Tom' Tomsk
Saturn Moscow @ FC Moscow

The final match of week 26 is this Monday evening (local time) and a classic between CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow. I will provide a complete match preview as well as a live blog.




PWDLGSGAPts
Rubin Kazan 25 16 6 3 37 16 54
CSKA Moscow 25 13 8 4 42 20 47
Dynamo Moscow 25 12 8 5 34 25 44
Amkar Perm' 25 11 7 7 25 20 40
Zenit St Petersburg 24 10 8 6 50 31 38
Kryliya Sovetov Samara 25 9 11 5 36 22 38
Spartak Moscow 25 9 10 6 36 32 37
Lokomotiv Moscow 24 9 7 8 28 28 34
FC Moscow 25 8 9 8 27 28 33
Spartak Nalchik 25 8 6 11 26 31 30
Terek Grozny 25 8 6 11 20 33 30
Tom' Tomsk 25 7 5 13 20 33 26
Saturn Moscow Oblast 24 6 8 10 21 25 26
Khimki 25 4 8 13 27 47 20
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok 25 3 11 11 21 42 20
Shinnik Yaroslav 24 3 6 15 22 39 15
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