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.

Russian Premier League
Season2008
ChampionsRubin Kazan
RelegatedShinnik Yaroslavl
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Champions LeagueRubin Kazan
CSKA Moscow
Dynamo Moscow
Europa LeagueAmkar Perm
Zenit St.Petersburg
Krylia Sovetov
Matches played240
Goals scored578 (2.41 per match)
Top goalscorerVágner Love (20)
← 2007
2009 →

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
Moscow Metro Area
Luch-Energiya
Krylia Sovetov
Moscow Metro Area teams:
CSKA
Dynamo
FC Khimki
Lokomotiv
FC Moscow
Saturn
Spartak
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
1 Rubin Kazan (C) 30 18 6 6 44 26 +18 60 Qualification to 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 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
4 Amkar Perm 30 14 9 7 31 22 +9 51 Qualification to Europa League play-off round
5 Zenit St. Petersburg 30 12 12 6 59 37 +22 48[lower-alpha 1]
6 Krylia Sovetov Samara 30 12 12 6 46 28 +18 48[lower-alpha 1] Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
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 First Division
16 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok (R) 30 3 12 15 24 53 −29 21
Source: RFPL (in 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
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ZEN 1–1 KRY; KRY 0–3 ZEN
  2. Since both finalists of the 2008–09 Russian Cup qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, Krylia Sovetov earned a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
 Russian Premier League 2008 Winners 
FC Rubin Kazan
1st 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 (in Russian)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Rank Nat. Player Goals (pen.) Team
1 Vágner Love 20 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]

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" (in 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.
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