Futbolgrad visited Russia’s oldest derby Spartak Moscow vs Dinamo Moscow on October 25 2015 in what ended up being a last minute 3-2 victory for Spartak Moscow (read the story here). On Sunday the two clubs will meet again at Spartak’s Otkrytiye Arena in a match that will provide plenty of story lines, as the match will be a must win for both clubs.
In October Dinamo Moscow was stuck in mid-table, far away from the form that guided the club to a European spot last season. Financial concerns, and the lack of transparent ownership meant that UEFA banned the club from UEFA competitions, and the club was forced to sell several of its top stars. The last stars remaining at the club were the Russian national team players Yuri Zhirkov and Aleksandr Kokorin.
Kokorin was also the best player for Dinamo during Dinamo’s 3-2 loss against Spartak last October. But Dinamo’s continued financial problems have meant that the club was forced to sell both Zhirkov and Kokorin to league rivals Zenit Saint Petersburg during the winter transfer window.
As a result Dinamo has fallen even further in the league table in the second half of the Russian Football Premier League season, and has come dangerously close to the playoff relegation zone—the teams that finish the league 13th, and 14th have to play off against the third and fourth placed teams of the second division.
Dinamo are currently in 13th place, just one point ahead of 14th placed Ufa. Ufa’s 27th round game took place on Friday, and ended with a 1-0 defeat to Krylia Sovetov Samara. Hence, the derby against Spartak will be of vital importance for Dinamo, as a victory could put their distance to Ufa at four point, and with just three matches remaining could start planning for the 2016-17 RFPL season.
The pressure on Dinamo will therefore be immense, which have recently signed a cooperation agreement with GestiFute, a company owned by the Portuguese player agent Jorge Mendes. The GestiFute deal is not without controversy, but Dinamo is dependent on the money, and it is doubtful whether Mendes would fund a team playing in Russia’s second division. Furthermore the club is scheduled to move to the new Dinamo Stadium in 2017, and would most certainly like to celebrate the opening of the new stadium as a member of Russia’s highest division.
Dinamo will have to face their oldest rival without striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, and defender Tomas Hubocan, as both are out due to injuries. Hubocan will especially be missed, as the Slovakian defender has been an important piece in Dinamo’s otherwise fragile defence.
Without him Dinamo will have to find ways to stop the Dutch attacker Quincy Promes, who has been one of the most prolific strikers in the RFPL, and he ranks second in the league among scorers with 14 goals in 26 games.
Yet in many ways Promes’ performances have been the only bright spot during a season that seems likely to end once again in disappointment. Spartak are currently sixth in the table, five points behind city rival Lokomotiv, which occupy the vital fifth—and final Europa League spot. Lokomotiv lost their round of 27 match on Friday to the league’s biggest surprise package FC Rostov, and as a result Spartak (41 points) could close the gap to Lokomotiv (46 points with one match more) to just two points with a win over Dinamo on Sunday.
The inconsistent results at Spartak have brought about a debate over the club’s head coach, as Dmitriy Alenichev, who was brought in with high expectations last summer—is expected to be fired should the club fail to qualify for the Europa League.
It might not be Russia’s biggest derby—that status is reserved for CSKA Moscow vs Spartak Moscow or Zenit vs Spartak Moscow—but with both clubs going into the match needing to secure three points in order to meet expectations, the match will be a heated affair, and therefore a must watch for football fans. What about the result? Futbolgrad expects a typical derby match with Spartak being the most likely winner.
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