Russian Cup Final Preview: Lokomotiv Moscow - Kuban Krasnodar

On the 21^st May 2015, the 23^rd Russian Cup final will be played. The two clubs competing for the trophy this year are Kuban Krasnodar and Lokomotiv Moscow, and both teams are trying to do the same thing; save a disappointing season.

Kuban has suffered considerably less pain this season than their opponents, but there is still a feeling that they could have been celebrating a lot more success.

They started the season in incredible form. After losing just once in their first 13 games, the club was positioned 5^th in the Premier League. They were only one point behind the second Champions League spot.

A week after their win against Ural the club sacked the manager Viktor Goncharenko for the lack of discipline in the squad. The club was however quick to Replace Goncharenko and only days later, confirmed another Belarusian would take charge.

Leonid Kuchuk, who was sacked by Lokomotiv just a few weeks earlier, returned to the club he managed to record the clubs best season finish of 5^th, which allowed them to participate in the following seasons Europa League. His return hasn’t been as successful as the club might have hoped for though. Kuban has only won once in the 15 Premier League he has managed and they are currently ranked 10^th going into the cup final.

A turbulent season in Krasnodar has been matched 800 miles away in Russia’s capital, Moscow.

Lokomotiv surprised a lot of people last year after keeping up with the pace of Zenit St. Petersburg and rivals CSKA Moscow in the league. Unfortunately for the Railroaders their efforts weren’t enough as they didn’t just miss out on the title, but a precious Champions League place as well by finishing third.

Led by current Kuban manager, Leonid Kuchuk and the club looked to build on a season which was their best for eight years. By finishing 3^rd, the club was back in Europe for the first time since 2012.

Despite a fairly decent start with seven points out of a possible nine, the club was dumped out of the Europa League by the end of August after an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to Apollon. The writing was on the wall for coach Kuchuk and he was gone by the end of September.

The club started to make some positive improvements though and went onto stay unbeaten until the winter break. Lokomotiv were situated in a European place and it looked like they might be able to savour something from a disappointing start. It hasn’t turned out that way though and following defeats to both Ural and Ufa away as well as a defeat to European challengers FC Krasnodar, The Red-Greens have fallen off the pace.

Their 3-1 defeat at home to city rivals CSKA was the last game under Božović before he resigned.

Their new man in the dugout, Igor Cherevchenko has been presented with a wonderful chance to remove the caretaker out of his title. Unfortunately for the Tajikistani, there are rumours circling that the club have already made contact with Shakhtar Donetsk Mircea Lucescu. The Romanian’s current deal runs out at the end of the season.

Both sides have had similar runs to the final with both beating two Russian Premier League teams as well as both facing at least one Russian Football National League side. Some may argue Kuban have had a slightly kinder route to the final having played three of their four games at home.

Coming into this game, Lokomotiv Moscow is the second most successive team in this cup having won it on five previous occasions. Their history vastly outweighs that of Kuban who has never reached the final before and is looking to add to the clubs only piece of silverware from the 2010 victory in the FNL.

Not only does experience tilt in the favour of the Moscow team but form also do too.

Kuban’s previous victory was against CSKA Moscow in the semi-final of this cup and if you’re looking for a victory before that, it was against Terek Grozny back in March. As well as this, the team from Krasnodar are in the worse form in comparison with any other team in the Premier League.

So, is there any hope for Kuban?

A saving point for Kuban it is since that game against Terek, their opponents have won three games in all competitions. Better form than themselves but one would agree it isn’t necessarily frightening form that will scare Kuban.

In meetings this season, Kuban won the first one in August when a Toni Šunjić scored a deciding goal in a 2-1 win. Remember as well that Lokomotiv manager Igor Cherevchenko has only managed a handful of games for his team and in so that regard, Kuban will boast more experience in the dugout.

In the previous eight cup finals, three have been decided on penalties. The other five finals have been decided by one goal. It shows cup finals have been incredibly nervy affairs and that one goal for Kuban could be the winner.

Kuban has beaten Lokomotiv Moscow this season but their form is unquestionably appalling. As we have seen before though, form doesn’t decide the outcome of a final.

Whoever wins at the Central Stadium located in Astrakhan, they will be given a lifeline after suffering very painful seasons. With the Leonid Kuchuk story at the centre, I’m sure we are in for a very special 23^rd Russian Cup final.

 

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