Rubin midfielder Bibras Natkho is not your typical player. He possesses elite awareness, great passing ability and has an eye for goal. He knows exactly when to push forward and when to hold back. He has a skillset that a lot of players in world football don’t possess. But he also possesses something else that isn’t typical. "I'm a Muslim, but at the same time it's important to me that I live in Israel and that I'm a citizen of that country," Natkho shared in an interview with a Russian … [Read more...]
Rubin Are On the Rise
September 7, 2013 by 2 Comments
Seven games into the Russian Football League season and Rubin Kazan are unbeaten. Sounds good right? But the reality is that it’s not as bright as it seems early on. While it’s nice to see a goose egg in the loss column, Rubin only have two wins from those seven games meaning they’re already playing catch up to league leaders CSKA Moscow. Perhaps the saving grace for Rubin is that the league is so tight this year. Rubin sit seventh in the standings, but they only trail CSKA by six points. … [Read more...]
Europa League Draw Will Test Three Russian Clubs
August 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The three Russian clubs in the Europa League will have a difficult path to get into the Round of 32 after the draw was made for the group stage. Perhaps none will have it harder than Kuban Krasnodar in Group A. After battling past Feyenoord in the playoff qualifying round, they will now have to face Spanish giants Valencia, English Premier League and last seasons Carling Cup winners Swansea City, as well as St. Gallen of Switzerland, who scored a famous victory over CSKA Moscow in the … [Read more...]
CSKA Moscow and Zenit Find Out Champions League Opponents
August 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg found out their opponents for this seasons group stage of the Champions League and they certainly face some tough opposition. CSKA Moscow, who made the group draw automatically as winners of last seasons Russian Premier League, got the worse of the draw. They were paired with reigning Champions League and Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich, big spending Manchester City of England and Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic who won the Gambrinus Liga last … [Read more...]
Zenit Avoid European Powerhouses in Champions League Playoff Draw; Kuban Face Tough Tie in Europa League
August 9, 2013 by 2 Comments
Zenit St Petersburg have been drawn against Pacos de Ferreira of Portugal in the Champions League Playoff draw. Zenit were fortunate enough to avoid European powerhouses in the non-champions section of the draw as they escaped ties against Lyon, Schalke, Arsenal, Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce. The first leg will be held on either August 21st or 22nd, where Zenit will visit the Estádio do Dragão. The return leg will be either August 27th or 28th at Petrovsky Stadium. Pacos have … [Read more...]
Rubin Ease into Europa League Qualifying Playoff Round
August 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A comfortable 2-0 win Thursday evening over Randers F.C. confirmed Rubin Kazan’s entrance into the playoff round of qualifying for the Europa League after winning the tie 4-1 on aggregate. Goals from Cesar Navas and Roman Eremenko were enough for Rubin in a game that they controlled from start to finish. After winning the away leg of the tie 2-1 thanks to goals from Dmitri Torbinski and Salomon Rondon, Rubin held a considerable advantage heading into the second leg. Israeli … [Read more...]
