CSKA vs Zenit. Yesterday's favorites fight for the bronze medals of the VTB United League
On May 5, the parquet of the Megasport Arena sports complex in the Russian capital will host the first match of the series for the bronze medals of the VTB United League 2022/23 between CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg.
The club showed negative dynamics in the season. At the start, he was almost flawless. He went through the regular season undefeated, finishing in first place. Later in the Winners' Stage he began to stumble, but he defended his positions in the table. In the quarterfinals, he easily defeated an opponent from group B in the class and went to the daring Loko. Here all the problems of the "army" were revealed (3:4 in the series).
Their stellar line-up has thinned a lot over the past summer, and even a great coach has left. As a result, the expensive Euroleague project no longer exists. There is only a heavily truncated version of it, which, as it turned out, is not the best team in Russia. CSKA is now a club that can compete for medals in the VTB United League. Basketball dominance of the "red-blue" in the country is over. At the moment, it is important to get together in order to take at least bronze in the competition.
Milutinov and Shved are the main characters of the current CSKA. The Serb is now in order, but the Russian recently suffered at the hands of hooligans and received a serious concussion. There is a possibility that the season is over for him. If this fact is confirmed, then this is a loss for the Muscovites, which greatly reduces their chances in rivalry against St. Petersburg.
Zenit
Already at the start of this season, it was clear that the updated roster of Zenit was inferior to the one that won the VTB United League 2021/22. Zenit passed the main championship of the current tournament exactly, holding on to third place. In the first round of the playoffs, the Blue-White-Blues passed the MBA (3:1) and went on to UNICS.
The series against Kazan developed in different ways. Everything worked out at home, but there was a real problem with the trips. Everything was decided in the seventh game, which took place in Kazan. The opponent snatched the victory less than a second before the final whistle. Ertel is the main star of the current Zenith. In the final, he hit important balls, but he was not perfect, and the Frenchman did not have so many real assistants on the floor.
It is imperative to beat CSKA in the fight for third place in the tournament. This will be the salvation of the season. If the current champion takes the "wooden medals", then the leadership of the team may have many questions.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on CSKA vs Zenit
CSKAThe club showed negative dynamics in the season. At the start, he was almost flawless. He went through the regular season undefeated, finishing in first place. Later in the Winners' Stage he began to stumble, but he defended his positions in the table. In the quarterfinals, he easily defeated an opponent from group B in the class and went to the daring Loko. Here all the problems of the "army" were revealed (3:4 in the series).
Their stellar line-up has thinned a lot over the past summer, and even a great coach has left. As a result, the expensive Euroleague project no longer exists. There is only a heavily truncated version of it, which, as it turned out, is not the best team in Russia. CSKA is now a club that can compete for medals in the VTB United League. Basketball dominance of the "red-blue" in the country is over. At the moment, it is important to get together in order to take at least bronze in the competition.
Milutinov and Shved are the main characters of the current CSKA. The Serb is now in order, but the Russian recently suffered at the hands of hooligans and received a serious concussion. There is a possibility that the season is over for him. If this fact is confirmed, then this is a loss for the Muscovites, which greatly reduces their chances in rivalry against St. Petersburg.
Zenit
Already at the start of this season, it was clear that the updated roster of Zenit was inferior to the one that won the VTB United League 2021/22. Zenit passed the main championship of the current tournament exactly, holding on to third place. In the first round of the playoffs, the Blue-White-Blues passed the MBA (3:1) and went on to UNICS.
The series against Kazan developed in different ways. Everything worked out at home, but there was a real problem with the trips. Everything was decided in the seventh game, which took place in Kazan. The opponent snatched the victory less than a second before the final whistle. Ertel is the main star of the current Zenith. In the final, he hit important balls, but he was not perfect, and the Frenchman did not have so many real assistants on the floor.
It is imperative to beat CSKA in the fight for third place in the tournament. This will be the salvation of the season. If the current champion takes the "wooden medals", then the leadership of the team may have many questions.
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