EuroFootball.com continues to review the European football leagues. This time the Russian Premier League will be reviewed, which is currently on winter break after eighteen rounds. Which clubs disappoint their fans this season, which team has climbed from the bottom of the table to the top, and how the brightest star of the league is doing - all in this review.
Leaders: "CSKA"
Moscow's "CSKA" season can be divided into two parts. The first part, which lasted until November - the team was incredibly good. In the Champions League, they had four points after the first round, and in the Russian league, they had lost only six points in 14 rounds. However, then the team lost to "Manchester United" and their game and results changed. "CSKA" not only lost all three remaining matches in the Champions League and dropped out of further European competitions, but also in four rounds in Russia playing against clubs at the bottom of the table they only managed to get one point. The winter break should benefit "CSKA" team, whose advantage over the second-placed "Rostov" team has decreased to three points.
Surprise: "Rostov"
It is likely that even the players of "Rostov" themselves did not expect to enter the winter break in the second position. Last season, only due to a goal in the away match against "Torpedo" (both teams had equal points and goal difference) they finished in the fourteenth place and did not leave the Premier League but had to play matches for survival, where they defeated the "Tosno" team. This year, "Rostov" even without high-profile stars demonstrate excellent results and have already collected 34 points in 18 rounds - five more than last season throughout the season.
Disappointment: "Zenit" and "Dynamo"
Although having looked great in the Champions League and having the strongest squad in Russia, the "Zenit" team is struggling in the local league. They entered the winter break in the sixth position in the Premier League. Last year's winning team (leading the league from the second to the last round) this year scattered points against both main competitors and bottom-of-the-table clubs. However, the problems of "CSKA" before the winter break did not allow Moscow's team to lag too far behind, and "Zenit" is seven points away from the rivals.
Moscow's "Dynamo", with few exceptions, can almost every year be called the biggest disappointment in Russian football. The team, which had one of the biggest budgets, has been without medals for the past five seasons and decided to radically change its strategy. The team gave up all expensive foreign players and invited local players instead. Currently, only three foreigners play in the club, but even this tactic did not bring better results - the team occupies the eleventh place. The only consolation for the team leaders is that this year they spend a much smaller amount on failures.
Most productive: Quincy Promes
Although Promes himself, who joined the "Spartak" team in the summer of 2014 for a sum of 11.5 million euros, is not very productive and scored 10 goals - it is enough for him not only to be the most productive player in the league but also to surpass the closest competitors with a two-goal advantage. The Dutch national team player is not a true center forward and more often is placed in a winger position, however, even this did not prevent him from welcoming the winter break as the most productive player in the league.
Star: Hulk
Perhaps the only famous foreigner who remained in the Russian league proves that he earned his name for a reason. This season, the Brazilian already scored eight goals and made fourteen assists. Hulk showed not just one individually strong performance in sixteen matches, but twice left the game after making three assists each. His domination raises double thoughts - although the winger is undoubtedly the best player in the Russian league, there are doubts whether the weakened level of the championship is not too low for Brazil's abilities. The 29-year-old player mentioned that he would like to end his career at the "Zenit" club, so the answer to the question of whether Hulk could show something similar in a stronger league can only be awaited in the Champions League.
Russian league standings:
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
