2008 Russian Premier League

The Russian Premier League 2008 was the 17th edition of the Russian Football Championship, and the seventh under the current Russian Premier League name. The season started on Friday, 14 March 2008 with a match between Terek and Krylia Sovetov in Grozny. Krylia Sovetov won 3–0. The first goal of the season was scored by Krylia Sovetov's forward Yevgeny Savin.

Due to Russia's participation in UEFA Euro 2008, the season was interrupted from 16 May until 5 July.

The champions were determined on the 27th matchday, 2 November 2008. Rubin claimed their first championship title in Russian Premier League, defeating Saturn 2–1 away, with Savo Milošević scoring in the 89th minute to claim the title for his club. Rubin became the third (and second consecutive) non-Moscow club to become Russian champions.

The last round of matches was played on 22 November 2008.

Teams

14 clubs placed 1–14 in Russian Premier League 2007 and 2 top clubs from 2007 season of Russian First Division took part in the league:

Terek

Rubin

Shinnik

Moscow

Spartak N.

Amkar

Saturn

Luch-Energiya

Krylia Sovetov

Zenit

Tom

Moscow teams:
CSKA
Dynamo
Lokomotiv
FC Moscow
Spartak
FC Khimki

Location of teams in Russian Premier League 2008

Team	Place	Head Coach	Team Captain	Venue	Capacity	Avg. Attend.	Kitmaker	Shirt sponsor
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	Dick Advocaat	Anatoliy Tymoschuk	Petrovsky Stadium	21,725	20,825	Puma	Gazprom
FC Spartak Moscow	Moscow	Michael Laudrup	Mozart	Luzhniki Stadium	76,000	23,380	Nike	Lukoil
PFC CSKA Moscow	Moscow	Valery Gazzaev	Igor Akinfeev	Luzhniki Stadium	76,000	16,243	Reebok	VTB
FC Moscow	Moscow	Oleg Blokhin	Dmitri Godunok	Eduard Streltsov Stadium	13,422	4,813	Umbro	Norilsk Nickel
FC Saturn Moscow Oblast	Ramenskoye	Jürgen Röber	Aleksei Igonin	Saturn Stadium	16,726	9,480	Adidas
FC Dynamo Moscow	Moscow	Andrey Kobelev	Dmitry Khokhlov	Dynamo Stadium	36,540	13,067	Umbro	Metalloinvest
FC Lokomotiv Moscow	Moscow	Rashid Rakhimov	Diniyar Bilyaletdinov	Lokomotiv Stadium	28,800	14,108	Adidas	Russian Railways
FC Amkar Perm	Perm	Miodrag Božović	Aleksei Popov	Zvezda Stadium	20,000	16,514	Adidas
FC Khimki	Khimki	Sergey Yuran	Roman Berezovsky	Arena Khimki	18,000	8,347	Nike	Mezhregionalnaya Developerskaya Kompania
FC Rubin Kazan	Kazan	Gurban Berdiýew	Sergey Semak	Central Stadium	30,133	18,641	Nike	TAIF
FC Tom Tomsk	Tomsk	Valeri Nepomniachi	Valeri Klimov	Trud Stadium	14,950	12,820	Adidas
PFC Spartak Nalchik	Nalchik	Yuri Krasnozhan	Miodrag Džudović	Spartak Stadium	14,400	10,460	Nike
FC Krylia Sovetov Samara	Samara	Leonid Slutsky	Matthew Paul Booth	Metallurg Stadium	33,220	22,400	Umbro	RosTekhnologii
FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	Vladivostok	Semen Altman[1]	Dmitri Smirnov	Dinamo Stadium	10,200	8,413	Nike	DalEnergo
FC Shinnik Yaroslavl	Yaroslavl	Sergei Pavlov	Denis Boyarintsev	Shinnik Stadium	19,000	10,387	Adidas
FC Terek Grozny	Grozny	Vyacheslav Grozny	Timur Dzhabrailov	Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium	10,400	8,935	Umbro	RAO UES

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation	Head-to-head
1	Rubin Kazan (C)	30	18	6	6	44	26	+18	60	2009–10 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	CSKA Moscow	30	16	8	6	53	24	+29	56
3	Dynamo Moscow	30	15	9	6	41	29	+12	54	2009–10 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Amkar Perm	30	14	9	7	31	22	+9	51	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
5	Zenit St. Petersburg	30	12	12	6	59	37	+22	48		ZEN 1–1 KRY KRY 0–3 ZEN
6	Krylia Sovetov Samara	30	12	12	6	46	28	+18	48	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round ^1
7	Lokomotiv Moscow	30	13	8	9	37	32	+5	47
8	Spartak Moscow	30	11	11	8	43	39	+4	44
9	FC Moscow	30	9	11	10	34	36	−2	38
10	Terek Grozny	30	9	8	13	28	42	−14	35
11	Saturn	30	7	12	11	26	30	−4	33
12	Spartak Nalchik	30	8	8	14	30	39	−9	32
13	Tom Tomsk	30	7	8	15	23	39	−16	29
14	Khimki	30	6	9	15	34	54	−20	27
15	Shinnik Yaroslavl (R)	30	5	7	18	25	48	−23	22	Relegation to Russian First Division 2009
16	Luch-Energiya Vladivostok (R)	30	3	12	15	24	53	−29	21

Source: RFPL (Russian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head (points, matches won, goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored); 4th goal difference; 5th goals scored; 6th away goals scored; 7th position in previous season or decision game
¹Since both finalists of Russian Cup 2008–09 qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2009–10, Krylia Sovetov earned a spot in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Russian Premier League 2008 Winners
FC Rubin Kazan First title

Results

Home ╲ Away

ZEN

SPA

CSK

MOS

SAT

DYN

LOK

AMK

KHI

RUB

TOM

SPN

KRY

LUE

SHI

TER

Zenit St. Petersburg

0–0

1–3

2–1

2–2

1–1

1–1

2–0

1–0

1–3

5–1

3–4

1–1

8–1

1–3

3–1

Spartak Moscow

1–3

1–5

1–1

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–1

1–1

0–1

1–0

2–1

0–1

3–0

4–2

3–1

CSKA Moscow

0–0

0–1

0–2

1–0

0–2

0–0

4–1

4–3

4–0

2–1

0–1

0–0

4–1

1–1

2–0

FC Moscow

0–2

2–1

1–4

0–0

1–1

0–3

0–1

2–2

1–2

2–1

1–3

1–1

3–0

2–1

0–0

Saturn

1–1

0–0

0–4

0–0

2–0

1–2

0–0

2–2

1–2

2–0

1–1

0–0

2–1

4–0

3–1

Dynamo Moscow

1–0

4–3

1–3

1–1

2–1

4–2

1–0

2–0

0–2

2–0

1–0

2–2

2–0

2–0

2–1

Lokomotiv Moscow

0–3

2–2

0–2

3–2

0–0

0–1

0–1

0–2

0–1

2–0

0–0

2–0

2–2

3–0

2–0

Amkar Perm

1–1

1–1

3–3

2–0

1–0

1–2

0–0

3–1

1–2

0–0

0–0

1–0

2–0

2–0

0–0

Khimki

1–4

3–3

1–2

0–2

2–1

1–1

2–2

0–3

0–4

1–1

2–0

1–0

3–1

0–0

0–1

Rubin Kazan

4–1

0–3

0–0

0–1

0–0

1–0

1–2

1–0

2–0

2–1

3–0

3–0

1–0

1–1

1–3

Tom Tomsk

1–1

0–1

0–0

2–1

0–1

0–0

0–1

0–1

3–1

1–2

1–0

0–4

1–1

2–1

2–0

Spartak Nalchik

2–2

1–2

0–0

0–3

2–1

0–2

0–1

0–1

1–2

2–0

1–1

1–1

2–2

2–1

2–0

Krylia Sovetov Samara

0–3

1–1

0–2

1–1

4–0

3–3

2–0

2–0

3–0

2–2

3–0

2–0

2–1

4–0

4–3

Luch-Energiya Vladivostok

0–0

2–2

1–3

1–1

0–0

1–0

2–3

0–1

1–1

1–1

0–0

0–2

0–0

1–0

1–1

Shinnik Yaroslavl

2–2

1–2

1–0

0–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

1–2

3–2

0–2

0–1

2–1

0–0

1–2

1–1

Terek Grozny

1–4

3–1

1–0

1–1

1–0

0–0

2–1

0–1

1–0

0–0

1–3

2–1

0–3

2–1

0–0

Source: RFPL (Russian)
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Nat.	Player	Goals (pen.)	Team
1		Vágner Love	20 (1)	CSKA
2		Marko Topić	10	Saturn
		Peter Odemwingie	10	Lokomotiv
		Danny	10	Dynamo (5) / Zenit (5)
		Eldar Nizamutdinov	10	Khimki
6		Diniyar Bilyaletdinov	9 (5)	Lokomotiv
7		Alan Dzagoev	8	CSKA
		Fatih Tekke	8	Zenit
		Anton Bober	8 (1)	Krylia Sovetov
		Héctor Bracamonte	8 (1)	Moscow
		Martin Kushev	8 (2)	Amkar

Awards

On 16 December 2008 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:^[2]

Goalkeepers

1. Igor Akinfeev (CSKA)
2. Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin)
3. Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

Right backs Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit) Cristian Ansaldi (Rubin) Vasili Berezutskiy (CSKA)

Right-centre backs Denis Kolodin (Dynamo) Rodolfo (Lokomotiv) Dmitri Belorukov (Amkar)

Left-centre backs Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA) Leandro Fernández (Dynamo) Aleksei Popov (Amkar/Rubin)

Left backs Radek Šírl (Zenit) Aleksei Berezutskiy (CSKA) Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv)

Defensive midfielders

1. Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Zenit)
2. Sergei Semak (Rubin)
3. Dmitri Khokhlov (Dynamo)

Right wingers Miloš Krasić (CSKA) Igor Denisov (Zenit) Kirill Kombarov (Dynamo)

Central midfielders Danny (Dynamo/Zenit) Igor Semshov (Dynamo) Alan Dzagoev (CSKA)

Left wingers Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA) Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit) Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv)

Right forwards Vágner Love (CSKA) Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit) Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak M.)

Left forwards Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) Marko Topić (Saturn) Gökdeniz Karadeniz (Rubin)

Medal squads

1. FC Rubin Kazan

Goalkeepers: Sergei Ryzhikov (26), Sergei Kozko (6). Defenders: Cristian Ansaldi (27 / 1), Roman Sharonov (26 / 1), Dato Kvirkvelia (24 / 3), Stjepan Tomas (19), Lasha Salukvadze (15), Aleksandr Orekhov (10), Aleksei Popov (7), Jefthon (2), Andrei Fyodorov (1), Gabriel Atz (1). Midfielders: Gökdeniz Karadeniz (27 / 6), Sergei Semak (27 / 5), MacBeth Sibaya (25), Serhiy Rebrov (24 / 5), Aleksandr Ryazantsev (22 / 1), Christian Noboa (21 / 6), Andrei Kobenko (17 / 2), Yevgeni Balyaikin (10), Aleksei Rebko (3), Vagiz Galiullin (1), Pyotr Gitselov (1). Forwards: Hasan Kabze (23 / 2), Aleksandr Bukharov (20 / 6), Roman Adamov (13 / 1), Savo Milošević (16 / 3). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Manager: Kurban Berdyev. Transferred out during the season: Gabriel Atz (on loan to FC Khimki), Pyotr Gitselov (on loan to FC Rostov), Aleksei Rebko (to FC Moscow).

2. PFC CSKA Moscow

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (30). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (28 / 4), Vasili Berezutski (28), Aleksei Berezutski (24 / 2), Deividas Šemberas (24), Chidi Odiah (23), Anton Grigoryev (16). Midfielders: Miloš Krasić (28 / 6), Yuri Zhirkov (28 / 3), Evgeni Aldonin (25 / 3), Elvir Rahimić (23), Alan Dzagoev (20 / 8), Caner Erkin (18 / 1), Pavel Mamayev (17 / 2), Dudu (10 / 1), Luboš Kalouda (1). Forwards: Vágner Love (26 / 20), Ricardo Jesus (10), Jô (8 / 3), Dmitri Ryzhov (8), Ramón (7), Daniel Carvalho (4), Dawid Janczyk (4). Manager: Valery Gazzaev. Transferred out during the season: Dudu (to Olympiacos), Jô (to Manchester City), Daniel Carvalho (on loan to Internacional).

3. FC Dynamo Moscow

Goalkeepers: Vladimir Gabulov (12), Žydrūnas Karčemarskas (9), Anton Shunin (9). Defenders: Leandro Fernández (28 / 4), Denis Kolodin (22 / 1), Jovan Tanasijević (20 / 1), Marcin Kowalczyk (20), Aleksandr Dimidko (12 / 2), Luke Wilkshire (11 / 2), Vladimir Granat (11), Arūnas Klimavičius (9 / 1), Nikita Chicherin (3), Aleksandr Tochilin (3). Midfielders: Dmitri Kombarov (30 / 1), Igor Semshov (29 / 6), Dmitri Khokhlov (27 / 2), Kirill Kombarov (26 / 1), Danny (18 / 5), Andrei Karpovich (12), Aleksandr Denisov (1). Forwards: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (27 / 7), Tsvetan Genkov (23 / 4), Aleksandr Kokorin (7 / 2), Fyodor Smolov (7 / 1). Manager: Andrey Kobelev. Transferred out during the season: Danny (to FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Denisov (on loan to FC Salyut-Energia Belgorod).

References

1. Семен Альтман возглавит "Луч-Энергию" (Russian) October 10, 2008
2. Утвержден список 33 лучших игроков "Росгосстрах Чемпионата России по футболу 2008 года" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16.

External links

• Official website (Russian)
• Russian Football Union (Russian)