If in the RPL only the first round ended, in the youth football league the champion is already known. The winner of the gold medal in the pre-finish round was Lokomotiv Moscow. We are talking about a tournament in which the future stars of the Russian championship will probably compete.
Who is the best young player of the first half of the championship?
Classification
The best young player of the first round of the RPL. New CSKA star or Karpin’s defender again?
In what format is the MFL Championship played?
This youth football league season, 20 teams play in one round: 19 rounds. The entire championship took place in just five months. This is due to the fact that from 2024 the USFL and MFL tournaments will move to the “spring-autumn” system, according to which Russian football lived until the 2010s.
Youth teams from RPL clubs, consisting of players under the age of 20 (born after January 1, 2004), compete in the MFL transition tournament. Together with them, teams from the best football academies in the country (Chertanovo, Master-Saturn, FSM, Akron – Konoplyov Academy) competed for gold medals. If it was previously possible to include “wild cards” (footballers without age and citizenship restrictions), this rule has been completely abandoned this season.
However, some teams also used younger players. For example, 15-year-old Vitaly Bondarev, Maxim Voronov and Klimenty Sidorov played for Ural. His teammates from other clubs also entered the field: Alexander Kuzmin (Baltika), Andrey Tsitsilin (Fakel) and Artyom Grigoriev (Akron – Konoplyov Academy).
Who competed for the championship in the youth championship?
In addition to Lokomotiv, Zenit and Rostov competed for gold medals in the youth championship. In addition, the Rostovites seemed to be the favorites in the championship race after 12 rounds. Rostov has won all 12 games since the start of the MFL season!
He stopped the winning streak of the leader Zenit, who defeated Alexander Abroskin’s team in early October in St. Petersburg with a score of 2:1. After that, the Rostovites won two more matches, but at the beginning of November they lost at home and to Lokomotiv with a score of 0:2. Then Rostov made another mistake, tying with Krylya Sovetov (3:3).
Lokomotiv only lost points twice. In round 3 they tied with Zenit (2-2) in St. Petersburg, and during the match the railwaymen lost by two goals. And in the 9th round, Viacheslav Vashkevich’s team lost at home to Spartak (0:3).
Vyacheslav Vashkevich
Photo: fclm.ru
As a result, Lokomotiv secured the championship one round before the finish line. “Rostov” is three points behind, but will not catch up with Vashkevich’s team, having lost in a head-to-head meeting. Zenit, led by former blue-white-blue player Konstantin Konoplev, is in third place, six points behind the railways.
Which MFL players have already played for RPL teams?
Some players from the new champion of the youth championship were recruited to the Lokomotiv team. These are midfielder Mikhail Shchetinin, forwards Vadim Rakov and Kirill Nikishin. Even 19-year-old goalkeeper Daniil Khudyakov, who already has a lot of experience playing in the RPL, played one match this MFL season.
Valery Karpin took goalkeeper Mikhail Tsulay, defenders Artur Maksetsov, Ivan Kuznetsov, German Ignatov, David Semenchuk and midfielder Daniil Shantaliya from the Rostov youth team this season (mainly for Russian Cup matches).
Attacking midfielder Danila Kozlov and forward Alexei Baranovsky made their debuts for Zenit last season. “Spartak” brought goalkeeper Semyon Fadeev, defenders Nikita Bozov, Dmitry Ivannikov and forward Artyom Bykovsky into the starting lineup. CSKA tried goalkeeper Vladimir Shaikhutdinov, defender Artyom Bandikyan and midfielder Yaroslav Arbuzov in the first team. In addition to them, defenders Matvey Lukin, Mikhail Ryadno and midfielder Matvey Kislyak, already well known to fans, played a couple of matches each in the MFL.
Yaroslav Arbuzov of CSKA
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
The list goes on, as virtually every youth team of RPL clubs has players who, to one degree or another, are already close to the core. The top scorer of the tournament with one day left is Spartak player Bykovsky with 16 goals. Rostov’s Kirill Moiseev and Zenit’s Konstantin Voinkov have 15 goals each. Lokomotiv’s Dmitry Radikovsky scored 11 goals.
The main scandal of the season in the youth championship.
Perhaps the main scandal in the MFL occurred at the end of October after the match between Spartak and CSKA. The red and white lost at home to the red and blue 1:2. After that, the army players – Arbuzov, Denis Pershin and Maxim Sidelnikov – together with the fans chanted obscene chants about their main rival. Also, Arbuzov is with a megaphone.
The matter came to the attention of the RFU CDC. Arbuzov, Pershin and Sidelnikov were disqualified for two matches. In addition, each of them was fined 500 thousand rubles.
CSKA vs Spartak is trending at all levels!
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS