"Leicester City" fairy tale of the season takes your breath away. Last season, barely surviving in the English "Premier" league, the Leicester team is now just a few steps away from the champions' title.
However, the rise of "Leicester City" is not unique. 3200 km east of the "King Power" stadium, the modest "Rostov" club is creating a similar story.
"Rostov" barely survived in the championship last season. They collected the same amount of points as Moscow's "Torpedo", but were saved due to a higher number of wins.
In the transitional matches, Rostov defeated the "Tosno" club.
Now, with five matches left, "Rostov" (51 points) is still leading the Russian championship. They are one point ahead of Moscow's CSKA (50) and five points ahead of three clubs with 46 points each.
"Even if they don't become champions, 'Rostov' has already proven that money doesn't decide everything in football," - wrote kavkaz-uzel.ru.
"Rostov" scored 32 goals in 25 matches. This is only the eighth result in the league. However, the defense is exemplary. They have only conceded 16 goals.
"Rostov" has kept a clean sheet in eight consecutive league matches. In 2016, no one has scored against Kurban Berdyev's team.
Over the weekend, at home, "Rostov" defeated the Champions League team St. Petersburg's "Zenit" 3:0, who had previously won five consecutive matches.
Before the season, the starting line-up of "Zenit" was valued at 161 million euros, while "Rostov" - only 11.2 million euros.
This is not the first football miracle that Berdyev, the religious "Rostov" coach, has tried to create.
His "Rubin" team did not lose to "Barcelona" three times in a row and even managed to win at the "Camp Nou" stadium.
"Rubin" twice - in 2008-2009 - became the Russian champion, breaking the dominance of Moscow and St. Petersburg clubs. These are the only cases since 1995 when the highest league in Russia was won by clubs from other cities.
Five former "Rubin" players now play in Rostov.
"Rostov" club is maintained by local government funds. The financial crisis with Ukraine has had a painful impact on football in the region.
In recent years, there has been constant talk about the impending bankruptcy of "Rostov". Delayed salaries even forced the players to strike - they refused to play in the Russian Cup matches in the autumn.
The indebted club faced sanctions from the Russian Football Federation - they were banned from registering new players in the winter. Even if they earn the right, UEFA is unlikely to allow "Rostov" to play in the Champions League or Europa League.
"No one set any goals for the team. We're going from match to match. How can we set any goals knowing our financial situation?" - says Berdyev, the author of the miraculous tale "Leicester by the Don".
alfa.lt
