| Clubs face tough choices on Saturday Tomorrow, in the last round of the Russian Championship, not only the bronze medalist of the national championship will be determined, but also the second team, which, following Chernomorets, will leave the company of the strongest clubs. In the first division, two teams will be determined on the same day that will receive a promotion.
The championship finishes in a nervous atmosphere. The leaders of the clubs interested in the results of the last round suspect everyone and everything of foul play. Some even have their own players. And this despite the fact that no one is making open accusations. Firstly, because, as always, there is no evidence, and secondly, few people in our football have not played “strange games” themselves. And mutual responsibility is the best censor, which shortens not only languages.
But despite the absence of direct accusations, almost everyone on whom the result depends tried to assure them of their loyalty to the principles of fair play. The abundance of pompous statements makes one feel a little uneasy. After all, if you put up a poster on every corner “Ivanov (Petrov, Sidorov) is not a fool,” then many passers-by, after reading it, will doubt the correctness of this statement - thus, due to natural distrust. The same mechanisms are at work now. The louder the statements like “we will fight honestly,” the more often the answer is “let us not believe it.” In the end, the saying about smoke without fire is much more credible than many statements.
And at the same time, teams that absolutely must win find themselves in an interesting position: they will no longer believe in a fair victory. Meanwhile, it is far from a fact that the same “Rubin” will not be able to beat even a motivated CSKA or “Torpedo-Metallurg” to honestly deal with today’s “Spartak”. So any result can be safely called sensational in one sense or another.
In the Premier League, increased attention is paid to three matches: Rubin - CSKA, Lokomotiv - Uralan and Spartak - Torpedo-Metallurg. To win bronze, and with it a place in the UEFA Cup, the Kazan team must beat the army team. If the result is different, Rubin could overtake Lokomotiv, which is now one point behind the Premier League debutant. If the points are equal, the advantage will remain with Rubin due to the result of head-to-head matches.
Uralan also needs a victory over Lokomotiv. Only this result will protect the Kalmyk club from relegation. But the Elista team is unlikely to be able to beat Semin’s team, and despite the fact that Uralan has a two-point handicap over the Metallurgists, its position is considered unenviable. If the points in this correspondence battle are equal, Torpedo-Metallurg will emerge victorious due to the greater number of victories in the entire championship. In certain situations, the Rotor may also fly out. But for this, “Uralan” needs to win against “Lokomotiv”, “Torpedo-Metallurg” against “Spartak”, and the Volgograd team themselves must lose to “Wings of the Soviets”. Agree, the likelihood of such results is even less than that in which Vyacheslav Koloskov will not be re-elected president of the RFU.
In the first division the situation is also not simple. Three teams are vying for two places in the Premier League - Kuban, Terek and Amkar. Kuban has a one-point advantage over its competitors. However, everything is confused by the calendar. In the last round, Kuban and Terek will compete in a head-to-head meeting. So it is enough for the representatives of the Krasnodar Territory to play a draw. Amkar also has every chance to break through to the top. In the last round, the Permians meet with the Fakel-Voronezh team. But in case of defeat, Voronezh residents can be relegated to the second division, so they will fight to the last bullet.
Of course, all the scenarios have already been calculated and the corresponding conclusions have been drawn. The financial losses that teams will suffer if tasks are not completed are also calculated. After all, don’t forget that it’s easy to get relegated from the Premier League. You can even make money from this. But to get back, you need to spend at least $12 million, which is not an easy task to find. So there is no doubt - now the work is in full swing, and delegates with arguments and counter-arguments are torn between the offices of the clubs. Andrey VDOVIN |
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