We conclude our look back at the past season with a list of the most memorable events of the past 12 months.
Two different halves – two different coaches
Dynamo spent the first half of the championship under the guidance of Russian national team head coach Valery Karpin, who held both positions. The team completed a short preseason, winning four of five matches with a combined score of 16-3, and also showed decent results in their first three official matches: two wins over Rostov and Sochi and a draw in the season-opener with Baltika.
However, with the arrival of August, the fans' optimism waned – five losses in seven matches and numerous injuries made it difficult to talk about the starting lineup being fully functional. The situation remained unchanged in the fall – good stretches alternated with poor ones, and immediately after the end of the first half, Karpin voluntarily left the team, which was then in 10th place in the Russian Premier League.
Rolan Gusev became the acting head coach. Under his leadership, the White-Blues defeated Dynamo Makhachkala in three league matches and drew with Spartak before the end of the year, also reaching the RPL Path semifinals. He was then confirmed in his position until the end of the season. The White-Blues had a strong spring and managed to climb to seventh place in the table, and in terms of points earned in the second half, they finished behind only Zenit and Krasnodar.
The First Final of the RPL Path
In the Russian Cup group stage, Dynamo was drawn with Sochi, Krasnodar, and Krylia Sovetov. The intrigue lasted until the very last round, when the white-blues crushed the Samara team and overtook them in the table, advancing to the RPL playoffs. Remarkably, the match ended 4-0 (Dynamo had previously beaten Sochi away and lost to Krasnodar at home), with Ulvi Babayev scoring the first Dynamo hat-trick at VTB Arena.
The young forward also scored the winning goal in the first quarterfinal match against Zenit (3-1), after which the white-blues held on to a 0-1 home lead. They pulled off the same trick in the semifinal against Spartak (5-2 and 0-1), reaching their first RPL path final, where Krasnodar once again awaited them. Gusev's team played both matches very well, but no one managed to score over 180 minutes, and Krasnodar prevailed in the penalty shootout.
Defeats of Spartak and CSKA, interrupted series with Krasnodar
The aforementioned match against Spartak was one of the most memorable of the season. In the first half, the teams traded goals from Nicolas Ngamaleu and Manfred Ugalde, and after the break, the spectacle began: in 16 minutes, Ngamaleu, David Ricardo, Konstantin Tyukavin, and Maxim Osipenko made the score obscene, and only at the very end did Christopher Martins pull one back. Dynamo scored five goals against Spartak for the second time in Russian history.
Three days later, another significant derby took place – this time the Bratsk Derby. Nicolas Marichal scored an early goal after a corner, then in the 17th minute, Dynamo gained a numerical advantage, which they capitalized on. A brace from Marichal, along with goals from Bitello and Ivan Sergeyev, gave our team a 4-1 victory over CSKA, only the second major victory in the Russian history of the club rivalry.
Of particular note is the victory over Krasnodar in the 29th round, which essentially deprived them of a second consecutive championship gold medal. After conceding a goal in the first half following a free kick, Dynamo secured a comeback victory after the break thanks to goals from Tyukavin and Ivan Sergeyev, as well as several stunning saves from Andrei Lunev. Thus, a nine-match winless streak and an eight-match goalless streak against the "Bulls" were broken.
Fresh blood
The summer saw the addition of five new players: Russian national team players Osipenko, Sergeev, and Anton Miranchuk, Kazakhstan's all-time leading scorer Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov, and Brazilian Rubens. Another of his compatriots, David Ricardo, arrived in the winter.
Sergeev was the only player to reach 40 appearances last season (though he started only half of them), and he scored 12 goals (only Tyukavin has more).
Osipenko started more matches than any other central defender (28), scoring three goals. David also provided a valuable boost to this area, scoring in his first match against Spartak. Rubens, who started on the left flank of defense, was subsequently moved to defensive midfield, where he excelled, finishing fifth in the league for tackles (despite playing only 21 matches). Miranchuk (19 matches) and Zainutdinov (10 matches) missed a lot of time due to injuries.
The return of the injured
The good news at the end of the season was that almost all the injured players returned to action, including those who missed most of it. Zainutdinov, who had been out since October, was benched for the final match against Baltika, as was Aleksandr Kutitsky, who had been out for two months.
Artur, who had been out for almost a year after a ruptured Achilles tendon, returned to action in the spring and scored three times in 12 matches, raising hopes for a productive next season. Luis Chavez spent nearly 10 months without football after injuring his knee during the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June. He returned in April, and now we'll even be able to cheer for him at the World Cup.
Milan Majstorovic missed almost 19 months, but delighted fans at the end of the season, starting twice. Finally, Dmitry Alexandrov, who had undergone surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee joint in October, received 10 minutes in the match against Baltika.
Tyukavin is the best scorer of the XXI century
Another player who returned to the field after a cruciate ligament injury was Tyukavin, who made his debut only in the derby against Spartak on Matchday 8. Four days later, he scored his first goal in a cup match against Sochi and, during the spring portion of the season, demonstrated his full recovery and his status as one of the country's top forwards. He ultimately scored 13 goals in less than a season, along with a number of further achievements.
In October, Kostya surpassed 50 goals for Dynamo, in March he became one of Dynamo's top three scorers in the Russian Cup, and in April, he became the club's top scorer in the 21st century, surpassing Kevin Kuranyi (56). He now has 61 goals to his name and ranks 13th on the all-time list of the Blue-Whites' all-time leading scorers. We expect new achievements from the "breadwinner" next season!
A Bright Start for the Alumni
Only three Dynamo Academy graduates from Lev Yashin made their debuts for the main squad this time around, but each one excelled. The first to do so was right-back Maxim Balakhanov, who started the cup match against Sochi on July 29 and provided an assist for Sergeyev. That match remains the 21-year-old defender's only official appearance, but he did manage to score for the main squad in a friendly against Tver in March.
In August, Kurban Rasulov became Dynamo's cup goalkeeper, beginning his career at the top level with three consecutive clean sheets. In October, he made his debut in the RPL and for the Russian U21 national team. In total, the 20-year-old goalkeeper has 14 matches for the main squad (six clean sheets – the best record among Dynamo goalkeepers) and has conceded 15 goals. Only the experienced Lunev (18) has played more than him this season.
Finally, central midfielder Timofey Marinkin was one of the biggest revelations this spring, displaying a confident and composed performance beyond his years. He made his debut in the cup match against Spartak and, with practically his first touch, provided an assist for Nicolas Ngamaleu. Marinkin, who turned 18 last week, played 14 matches, making him one of the Dynamo players with the most appearances before turning 18.
One hundred years of the letter "D"
In 2026, we celebrated not only the 103rd anniversary of Dynamo's founding, but also the centenary of its famous emblem—the letter "D." It was created in 1926 by one of the team's players, Alexander Borisov, who later became a renowned architect who rebuilt Stalingrad and Chisinau.
The diamond with the letter "D" inside it lasted in its original form for 13 years. In 1939, a red star was added to its upper corner in honor of Dynamo being awarded the Order of Lenin. In this classic form, the emblem survived until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the red star disappeared and the letter "D" itself was redesigned.
At the beginning of the Russian stage, it was in constant flux—a ball, the inscription "Moscow," the year the club was founded, and even a resemblance to the Kremlin walls appeared. In 2013, the Russian Football Union (RFU) allowed clubs to add stars to their emblems for five national championships they had won, and our emblem was then adorned with two gold stars in honor of the 11 championship titles Dynamo had won.