CSKA - Spartak: The Great Moscow Derby

The first main Moscow derby of the season takes place at the VEB Arena on Sunday night. Instead of a usual preview of the game, we decide to look back into the long history of the rivalry.

During the Soviet Union

It is considered the first derby took place on June 1, 1922, when OLLS (CSKA) defeated MKS (Spartak) 4-2 in the final of the Moscow Championship.

It is disputable but generally accepted that the Spartak fan group was founded in 1972. They were pioneers of the organised support of teams in USSR. On the basis of their example, fan groups of other teams were organizing. On September 13, 1975, during the derby, CSKA supporters gathered together in one gate of the Dinamo stadium. They consider this the founding of the CSKA fan group.

It is unknown exactly why the powerful and largest Spartak fan group had chosen CSKA as their main enemy. However, in the 70s the Red-Whites were friends with Dinamo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad and even with Dynamo Kyiv fans. 1977-1982 is considered as the “Golden age of Soviet fanatics”, yet during this period, the CSKA fan group consisted of 20-30 teenagers and was permanently attacked by Spartak fans.

The most remarkable action of the 1980s was the so-called “Death train”. On June 24, 1981, Spartak easily defeated CSKA 3-0 at the Luzhniki. The militia kept CSKA fans in the stands while Spartak’s fan group left for the metro, not to get on a train but to wait for CSKA’s ultras in a pre-organised meeting.

The militia escorted all 20-30 Red-Blues to the underground and put them in one metro carriage. In every station of the red metro line, the Red-Blue carriage was attacked by huge Spartak mobs. CSKA fans were so involved in the fight that they missed the station and disembarked when the train was in Sokolniki (a historical district of Spartak fans). They changed lines and the same was repeated in reverse. After the Red-Blues left the carriage, two trains arrived with new Spartak mobs. On the way out the station, the third group of Spartak fans arrived before the fight was finally broken up

The army generals (who owned CSKA) were so upset by the result of the match that they sent all their players to serve in a military unit. Unsurprisingly, CSKA won the reverse fixture 2-0 just three weeks later.

During the turbulent 1980s, CSKA recorded no victories over Spartak after 1981 and became a yo-yo club – spending four years in the First League (the second tier of Soviet football).

From these years until even now CSKA fans have stated the main football task for a season as: “Do not get relegated and defeat Spartak”.

CSKA returned to the Premier League in 1990 and the derby dated March 16, 1990, is considered as the most interesting in history. 35,000 spectators attended the match at the SportHall Olimpiysky. CSKA went 3-1 down but Igor Korneev scored a late hat-trick to turn it around at 4-3. Then, exciting youngster Valery Karpin made his debut for Spartak.

In just fifteen minutes he registered two assists and the “Red-Whites” won 5-4. Fans of both sides were happy by the performance of each side, but of course the Red-Whites somewhat more so.

In the autumn CSKA took revenge and became runner-up after Spartak. It was last CSKA victory till 1998. CSKA under the guidance of Pavel Sadyrin completed a historic double in the last Soviet season, 1991, but also lost both derby games.

Spartak’s Hegemony

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. Spartak’s manager Oleg Romantsev collected all the strongest players from the former USSR and the Red-Whites had no competitors for a long time. In direct contrast, most major CSKA players left the side as manager Pavel Sadyrin likewise moved on to become manager of the national side. The first post-Soviet derby was on May 10, 1992, in the USSR-CIS Cup (the tournament was started when the USSR still existed). Spartak won 2-0, and CSKA goalkeeper Dmitry Kharin missed a penalty.

The first Russian championship was split into two, and CSKA-Spartak only met in the second stage (tournament of the top eight). The first derby was drawn 1-1, but second was more dramatic. Spartak was down 0-1 and Stanislav Cherchesov was sent off, but Spartak scored twice and won.

On June 27, 1993, the next derby took place. Spartak won 6-0 (Igor Ledyakhov scored a hat-trick). Still today this is the biggest margin of victory in the derby.

In 1994 the sides met in the final of the Cup of Russia. Spartak was the obvious favourite as CSKA were relegation strugglers at the time. The red-whites scored twice but the underdogs sensationally equalized the score. In the penalty shoot-out, the more experienced Spartak players took the Cup with a winning penalty scored by club legend Dmitry Alenichev.

In the first ten Russian seasons, Spartak won the championship nine times and the Cup of Russia two times. CSKA didn’t win any trophy but managed to avoid relegation. The only bragging rights they could hope to achieve was in the derby.

Fan subculture likewise almost collapsed after the dissolution of the USSR. But fans of CSKA were on top. They made euro-trips in 1992/93, they created the first English style hooligan firm (now ultras), the Red-Blue Warriors in 1994 (Spartak’s top-firm Flint’s Crew was founded later in 1994 or 1995) and they started publishing the first Russian fanzine (Russky Fan Vestnik).

In the middle of 1998, Oleg Dolmatov took over as CSKA manager after the first round of the tournament. He was the first in the league to employ the “line defence” tactics, without a sweeper. Competitors couldn’t do anything against this formation. On September 26, 1998, they demolished their rivals 4-1. It was Spartak’s first loss by three or more goals in Russian history.

The Giner Effect

In 2001, Evgeny Giner bought CSKA Moscow, as the side became privatised for the first time in history. Next years CSKA overtook Spartak on the overall number of trophies won in Russian history (without Soviet Union trophies).

On March 31, 2001, Spartak won the first derby of the modern era 1-0. It was the last victory for myaso for next seven-and-a-half years. But this derby-day has been memorized due to the “Kitay-Gorod battle” (Kitay-Gorod is an underground station in the centre of Moscow). The two met each other in a massive fight in the station as the Red-Whites came out on top - it was the first serious loss of the Red-Blues in the hooligan’s scene for 15 years.

In 2002, CSKA won both derbies. In Luzhniki the Army Men easily won 3-0 as an exuberant Valery Gazzaev joked that he is very upset that Spartak managed to enter CSKA’s half a few times.

The second derby was memorized as the Snow Derby. During the season CSKA were based in the tiny Eduard Streltsov Stadium. Giner refused any proposal to play in a larger stadium and gave 10% of the seats (about 1,500 tickets) to the away fans. For reference, 40,000 spectators attended the previous derby in the Luzhniki.

On the matchday, strong snowfall almost stopped the game altogether. Heavy snow lay on the pitch and none was even moved onto the touchline. Spartak wanted to postpone the match but CSKA insisted to play. Only after kick-off time, two plough trucks started to remove the snow on the grass. As a result, the match was delayed for a couple of hours and CSKA won 2-1. CSKA fans spent 3-4 hours in the stands throwing snowballs off the Spartak players, fans and the referees.

The Russian Super Cup was the first derby in 2004. CSKA had a big advantage but won only after extra-time due to a goal from rookie Daniel Carvalho (finally ending 3-1). This season CSKA won all three derbies.

On May 18, 2005, CSKA became first Russian club to win the UEFA Cup but was forced to play the derby just two days later. The Army Men didn’t train before the match and the Red-Whites had been hoping to win the match. But the Lisbon scenario was repeated: 0-1 at half-time before a 3-1 CSKA win.

Four derbies were played in 2006, again beginning with the Super Cup. But the hooligans also had their own Super Cup on this day. After the “Kitay-Gorod battle” the Red-Whites avoided big clashes with CSKA top-firms. But on this day row of big fights happens and in the most “epic” battle more than 500 fans fought near underground station 1905 Goda. The Red-Blues took a complete revenge winning all the fights. It was the last time when such big riots happened in Russia. The Super Cup match itself was the final of the day. It was also a hot match and CSKA won the trophy.

In 2007, the sides again played four derbies. In the first-ever Derby outside of Moscow, CSKA dramatically won Cup of the First Channel (a pre-season tournament for the best teams of Ukraine and Russia). In the Championship, Spartak nearly halted their win drought but Dawid Janczyk scored a last-second equaliser.

In 2008, everything was in favour of the Red-Blues. Michael Laudrup’s Spartak side had a poor side, and CSKA in the first derby won 5-1 (their biggest-ever win). But surprisingly on November 1, 2008, Spartak finally won 1-0. It was side’s first derby victory since March 31, 2001, and the longest winning drought against CSKA in their history.

The two sides played a dramatic match in the Khimki Arena in November 2010. CSKA was down 0-1 and Deividas Semberas was sent off at the beginning of the second half. Short-handed, the team brilliantly scored three goals. Seydou Doumbia scored the winning goal and in answer to monkey chants, he with Seku Oliseh danced a “Monkey Dance” in front of the away fans. Another dramatic match was the semi-final of the Cup of Russia in 2011. Three times Spartak went ahead but CSKA three times equalised the score and Akinfeev won the match in a penalty shoot-out.

For the last few seasons, there has no favourites nor underdogs in the evenly contested derbies. Usually, Spartak looked more motivated but CSKA more organised. The first derby in the Otkrytie Arena a was disaster for the hosts (0-4). But the Red-Whites turned the tables, defeating their rivals at the opening of their own new stadium, the VEB Arena 2-1.

Last season’s derbies were contradictory. In the VEB Arena CSKA was 0-1 down and had a poor performance, but Georgi Shchennikov and Vitinho decided the match in last minute - winning 2-1. At the Otkrytie Arena in December, Spartak was in bad mood after losing 0-7 to Liverpool and took their revenge by beating CSKA 3-0.

Now we’re waiting for the new Derby, as nine months is the longest wait in years. CSKA fully renewed their squad and is an exciting young side very much in transition. This time Spartak is the favourite versus the Red-Blue youngsters, even with losing Quincy Promes.

As a result, it will be both unpredictable and typically feisty.

Author: Vitaly Leonov

Football fan. Former reporter and chief-editor of the Inform Agency PESKI.RU (www.peski.ru). I like travel and visit stadiums and attend matches in Europe. CSKA Moscow fan.