Yesterday, at the general meeting of the RFPL clubs, a draft calendar for the 2017/18 season was approved. See it in full. "Championship" analyzes the calendar and talks about the most important dates and events of the new season.
Russian clubs in European competition 2017/18: dates, rounds, possible opponents
We study all the rivals of our teams in the next European Cup season.
Khabarovsk
If for ordinary fans who have a chance to “break through” a long trip, the entry of SKA-Khabarovsk into the Premier League has become joyful, then for clubs, especially those playing in European competitions, it’s more of a headache. In the first round, Zenit will fly to the Far East, and in the third, on July 30, right between the qualifying matches of the Champions League qualification round, CSKA will fly. Army General Manager Roman Babaev has already stated that after the European Cup draw, calendar adjustments are possible. And Spartak plays away with Khabarovsk on August 27 - two weeks before the start of the group stage of the Champions League.
However, there is a possibility that Khabarovsk fans will never see matches with top clubs at the Lenin Stadium. Head of RFPL Sergey Pryadkin hinted that the SKA season could start at the Khimki Arena due to the non-compliance of the main stadium with the league requirements.
All on X. Russian football rises from the bottom
Why Khabarovsk's entry into the Premier League is actually very cool.
Derby
The RFPL season opens and closes with the returning derby of Spartak and Dynamo. Interestingly, it was the Red and Whites that indirectly sent their eternal rivals to the FNL last season. Nevertheless, the approximate dates for these matches are quite successful: July 16 and May 13.
What can not be said about the main derby of the country. If the first match at VEB-Arena will be played in the 6th round, approximately on August 13, then the second one will be played in the last round before the break on December 10th. Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Spartak, that there is also a reserve date - February 20. Apparently, this match will be the second snow derby in the history of confrontation between these teams after the legendary game in 2002.
Another interesting point: Spartak will play all matches with direct competitors before the winter break. The derby with CSKA has already been mentioned above, the red-and-whites will play with Zenit on August 6 and November 26, and with Krasnodar on July 30 and November 19.
For the first time in the RFPL, the St. Petersburg derby will be played. On "Petrovsky", where "Tosno" is now in charge, - already on July 30, in the third round, and on "Krestovsky" - in the 17th round, on November 19.
Winter
Like last year, the schedule of winter tours also raises questions. For example, on November 26, Ural and Amkar play home matches in Yekaterinburg and Perm, respectively. Usually at this time of the year there is approximately "-15" and snow. In the 20th round, on December 10, these teams play at home again, while the southern Krasnodar and Anji are away.
Last tour
If the fate of the championship is not decided before the last round, CSKA and Zenit will have some advantage over their rivals, who will play at home with Anji and SKA, respectively. Spartak will visit Dynamo, while Krasnodar will host Rubin Kazan. Lokomotiv is going to Tula in the last round.
After a break for international matches, Zenit St. Petersburg Football Club expects a large number of games in three tournaments of the 2018/2019 season, the detailed schedule of which can be found on our website.
Battle with the champion and start in the Europa League
September 16 "Zenith" will go to an away match in the city of Orenburg, where the game will take place with the team of the same name. Due to the density of the calendar, it is important to score the maximum number of points in this confrontation. After all, already on the 20th we will have to leave for Denmark for the match of the opening round of the Europa League 2018/2019 against Copenhagen, and on September 23 at the home stadium of St. After such a busy period, on September 26, the match of the Russian Cup 2018/2019 will take place against the Astrakhan football club Volgar, where it will be possible to rotate the squad and rest the leading players. The month of September will end for Zenit with an away match on the 30th against Anji, an outsider of the Russian Championship, Makhachkala.
All eyes on European Cups!
On October 4, the blue and whites will play their first home game in the group stage of the Europa League 2018/19 against the Czech club Slavia. On the 7th, Zenit will host one of the strongest teams in Russia, Krasnodar, at home, which has a very easy calendar before this game and it is likely that this will be a meeting of the two leaders of the championship at that time.
After that, there will be another break for the matches of the national teams and Zenit will return to the fields of the country on October 21 in the away game against Dynamo Moscow. The meeting following this match will be decisive in the group stage of the Europa League 2018/2019. On October 25, the strong French club Bordeaux will visit St. Petersburg residents. For sure, in the confrontation with this team, the fate of the first and second places in the group will be decided. On the 28th, we will leave for the game of the 12th round of the Russian Football Championship against the Samara Krylya Sovetov, and the month will end with the game of the Country Cup on October 31 against the winner of the Syzran-Rostov pair.
The main matches of the fall
On November 4, the game of the 13th round of the Russian Football Premier League will take place, in which Zenit will host the Grozny club Akhmat at the St. Petersburg stadium. After that, the blue and white, on the 8th, as part of the 4th round of the Europa League group stage, will go to an important match in France, to visit Bordeaux. Then, on November 11, we will have to leave for Moscow for the central game of the 14th round of the Russian Championship against CSKA. The army team will get in shape by then and the match promises to be hot. On November 25, after the friendly games of the national teams, the Rostov football club will come to visit the club from the banks of the Neva, which this season demonstrates nice football. The last game in November will be Zenit's home meeting on the 29th against the Danish Copenhagen in the 5th round of the Europa League group stage.
Final games of the year
In December, St. Petersburg expects four matches. The month will open with a meeting on December 3 in Tula with the local Arsenal, and in 2 days the first match of the ¼ final of the Russian Cup will take place. On December 9, Zenit will play the last game at the home arena of 2018 against the strong Rubin Kazan. Departure to the Czech Republic on December 13 for the game against Slavia, as part of the final round of the Europa League group stage, will be the end of the calendar year for the blue and white and will determine the final composition of the participants in the playoff stage of this tournament.
Games "Zenith" in 2019
2019 starts for all Russian football and for Zenit in particular with matches on February 14 and 21 as part of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League 2018/19, the opponent has not yet been determined. On the 24th, the return game of the ¼ Cup of Russia will take place. In the case of the passage of the blue and white, the first semi-final meeting of the above tournament will take place on February 28, the return game will take place on April 3.
Start of the second round of the RPL
The Russian Premier League will return to the fields of the country on March 3 in Yekaterinburg, where the game of the 18th round between the local Urals and Zenit will take place. Unfortunately, now it is impossible to predict how far St. Petersburg will go in European competition, but it is worth noting that the matches of the 1/8 finals of the Europa League 2018/19 will be held on March 7 and 14. On the 10th of the month, the St. Petersburg football club will host Ufa at its stadium, and on March 17, a principled away game against Moscow Spartak will take place. Such a busy month will end with a match with the outsider Orenburg on the 31st.
Decisive meetings of the spring
In April, Zenit expects two toughest away matches - on April 7, the central meeting of the 22nd round against Lokomotiv will take place in Moscow, and on the 21st in Krasnodar, the local club of the same name will host the blue and white. These matches will be decisive in determining the places in the standings of the Russian Football Championship. But at the home stadium, Petrograders are waiting for rivals at a lower level - Anzhi, Dynamo and Krylya Sovetov, the games with which will take place on April 14, 25 and 28, respectively.
end of the season
In May, the calendar of the Russian Premier League favors Zenit, with the exception of the home game of the 28th round against CSKA, which will take place on May 12, where the fate of the gold medals will certainly be determined. Otherwise, excellent prospects open up to score the maximum number of points in the final segment. On May 5, there will be a trip to Grozny to visit the local Akhmat, and on the 19th to Rostov-on-Don, where the Rostov Arena stadium will host a match of the 29th round between Rostov and Zenit. In the final game of the Russian Football Championship, the blue-and-whites will host the modest Yenisei from Krasnoyarsk.
Calendar of the football club "Zenith"
date | Tournament | A game | Home/Guests |
2018 |
|||
| 16.09.2018 | RPL | Orenburg – Zenith | G |
| 20.09.2018 | LE | Copenhagen – Zenith | G |
| 23.09.2018 | RPL | Zenit – Lokomotiv | D |
| 26.09.2018 | KR | Volgar – Zenith | G |
| 30.09.2019 | RPL | Anzhi – Zenit | G |
| 4.10.2019 | LE | Zenit – Slavia | D |
| 7.10.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Krasnodar | D |
| 21.10.2019 | RPL | Dynamo – Zenit | G |
| 25.10.2019 | LE | Zenith – Bordeaux | D |
| 28.10.2019 | RPL | Wings of the Soviets - Zenith | G |
| 31.10.2019 | KR | 1/8 finals | |
| 4.11.2019 | RPL | Zenit - Akhmat | D |
| 8.11.2019 | LE | Bordeaux – Zenith | G |
| 11.11.2019 | RPL | CSKA - Zenit | G |
| 25.11.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Rostov | D |
| 29.11.2019 | LE | Zenith – Copenhagen | D |
| 3.12.2019 | RPL | Arsenal – Zenit | G |
| 5.12.2019 | KR | ¼ final | |
| 9.12.2019 | RPL | Zenith – Rubin | D |
| 13.12.2019 | LE | Slavia-Zenith | G |
2019 |
|||
| 14.02.2019 | LE | 1/8 finals | |
| 21.02.2019 | LE | 1/8 finals | |
| 24.02.2019 | KR | ¼ final | |
| 28.02.2019 | KR | ½ final | |
| 3.03.2019 | RPL | Ural - Zenith | G |
| 7.03.2019 | LE | 1/8 finals | |
| 10.03.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Ufa | D |
| 14.03.2019 | LE | 1/8 finals | |
| 17.03.2019 | RPL | Spartak – Zenit | G |
| 31.03.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Orenburg | D |
| 3.04.2019 | KR | ½ final | |
| 7.04.2019 | RPL | Lokomotiv – Zenith | G |
| 11.04.2019 | LE | ¼ final | |
| 14.04.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Anzhi | D |
| 18.04.2018 | LE | ¼ final | |
| 21.04.2019 | RPL | Krasnodar – Zenit | G |
| 25.04.2019 | RPL | Zenit – Dynamo | D |
| 28.04.2019 | RPL | Zenith - Wings of the Soviets | D |
| 2.05.2019 | LE | ½ final | |
| 5.05.2019 | RPL | Akhmat - Zenith | G |
| 9.05.2018 | LE | ½ final | |
| 12.05.2019 | RPL | Zenit – CSKA | D |
| 19.05.2019 | RPL | Rostov – Zenit | G |
| 26.05.2019 | RPL | Zenit - Yenisei | D |
| 29.05.2019 | LE | The final | |
| 30.05.2019 | KR | The final | |
The Zenit football match schedule in the 2018-2019 season is very busy. The club is waiting for the most important matches in the Russian Premier League, the Russian Cup and the Europa League. Pitertsy really missed the big victories. Therefore, the players from the banks of the Neva will try to succeed in each of the tournaments. Do they have a chance to realize their ambitious plans?!
Match schedule of FC Zenit in the season 2018-2019
The wards of Sergei Semak are waiting for football battles on three fronts:, and. The Premier League has already begun. The matches within the Europa League are about to start. And very little time remains before the first games in the Russian Cup.
Let's analyze in detail the calendar of Zenit games in each of these tournaments.
Schedule of games "Zenith" in the RPL 2018 - 2019
The most important front Zenit expect 30 fights, which they will hold from July 2018 to May 2019.
The last time a football team from North Palmyra won in the top division was in the 2014/2015 season. In total, the blue-white-blue 4 times won the gold medals of the top division. St. Petersburg missed the big victories of its team!
And it also depends on the results of the games whether the club will be able to participate in the Champions League 2019/20. The blue-blues spent the last seasons of the RPL very unimportantly, taking places that allowed them to play only in the Europa League.
Judging by the opening games of the Premier League, the competitors for the championship medals from St. Petersburg will be "" and "Lokomotiv". The Moscow teams have strengthened very nicely in the last two years.
Also, do not discount Rubin, Krasnodar, CSKA and even the modest Rostov. Any of these FCs are capable of delivering a surprise.
Match schedule of Zenit (St. Petersburg) in the Cup of Russia 2018 - 2019
The second most important national football championship in Russia. The competition started in July 2018 and will finish in May 2019. While the strongest reveal amateur clubs. But already in September, at the 1/16 stage, representatives of the top division will enter the fight for the trophy.
Blue-white-blue was awarded the Cup of Russia three times: in 1999, 2010 and 2016. But in the last draw, the wards of Roberto Mancini flew out already in the 1/16 finals. The players of another St. Petersburg club Dynamo became the offender of the Zenit team. Perhaps this time the main team of the northern capital will be more successful.
Football match calendar "Zenith" in the Europa League 2018/19
According to the results of the 26th edition of the football Premier League, the team from North Palmyra took only 5th place. Fifth line is a clear failure for the country's richest and most ambitious PFC. However, even such a low result allowed Zenit to qualify for the Europa League 2018/19.
Zenit players will start their way to the LE from the 3rd round of the qualifying round. The rival of blue-white-blue will be Dynamo Minsk. The guest meeting will be held on August 9, and the home meeting on August 16. If you manage to break the resistance of the Belarusians, the St. Petersburg FC is waiting for the next round. There, the opponent of Sergei Semak's wards will be the winner of the pair "Hibernian" (Scotland) vs "Molde" (Norway). Football matches will be held on August 23 and 30, 2018.
If the main club of the cultural capital does not do anything, it will safely make it to the group stage of the tournament. His first round will be held on September 20, and the last on December 6.
Zenit is a proven fighter of the second most important European club championship. More than once, the St. Petersburg team played in the playoffs of the League. But the main success remains the victory in the predecessor of the Europa League, the UEFA Cup. The blue-blues achieved a historic triumph in the 2007/08 season!
Petersburg FC "Zenit" will play in the group stage of the Europa League with "Bordeaux", "Copenhagen" and "Slavia", these are the results of today's draw. The not very impressive composition of the opponents suggests that the fans of the team are likely to plan a spring trip to the opponent in the 1/16 finals of the LE.
Recall that Zenit entered the group stage of the LE 2018 / 2019 after defeating Dynamo Minsk and Norwegian Molde in non-problematic confrontations.
The results of the draw did not bring any grandees or difficult opponents to the St. Petersburg team, including because Zenit was seeded in the first pot along with the London Arsenal, Chelsea, the German Bayer, the Roman Lazio and the Spanish Sevilla, the most "Leago-European", or something, club.
So, in the 2018/2019 season, here are the rivals that will face Zenit in Group C:
- "Bordeaux" (Bordeaux, France);
— Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Denmark);
- Slavia (Prague, Czech Republic).
Match schedule of Zenit in the Europa League 2018/2019
Zenit matches in the Europa League will be held on September 20, October 4, October 25, November 8, November 29 and December 13.
Round 1, September 20: Copenhagen - Zenit (away);
Round 2, October 4: Zenit - Slavia (away);
Round 3, October 25: Zenit - Bordeaux (away);
Round 4, November 8: Bordeaux - Zenit (home match);
Round 5, November 29: Zenit - Copenhagen (home match);
Round 6, December 13: Slavia - Zenit (home match).
It is obvious that such rivals to the current "Zenith" are quite capable of themselves.
True, the fans do not seem to be very satisfied with what is happening in the team, despite the fact that it solves all the tasks that are currently available, and in the Russian Championship it does not do so with a 100% result. At least in response to a question in, the former goalkeeper of Zenit, and now his deputy sports director, about “how do you like the group?”, Exclamations were mostly heard about the need to strengthen the squad.
Read also our material about where Zenit receives guests.
Ivan Semenov
