Preview of the match of the Cup of Russia Fakel — Dynamo

The text broadcast of the game will be available online in our match center.

For Dynamo fans, there is a sector in the North Stand of the Fakel Stadium, tickets for which can only be purchased online at the following link. To purchase, you must enter the access code YD4KXJN. The guest ticket office will not work on the day of the game.

You can watch the live video broadcast of this game on the Match Premier TV channel. Beginning at 18:30 Moscow time.

Also, after the match, wait on our resources for the traditional edition of "Inside" with the highlights of the game and interviews of the actors.

Dynamo had a difficult start to the season. A goalless draw with Krylia Sovetov was followed by a 2-1 away defeat to Baltika Kaliningrad. Having squandered several good chances in the first half, our team conceded twice from set pieces (a corner and a penalty), after which Artur scored a goal, heading in Ivan Sergeyev's cross. Dynamo pressed until the final minutes – Juan Caceres hit the post, and Konstantin Tyukavin scored from an offside position – but they couldn't escape defeat.

"We need to continue working on our principles. Today's result was poor, but we still had a lot of good moments," Sandro Schwarz said at the press conference. "We had a great preseason and expected to pick up more points in the opening rounds, but that's how it is in football. Now we have to correct this situation, and I have 100 percent faith in our team and our players."

Andrei Lunev missed the match in Kaliningrad after picking up an injury in training. His place has been taken by Kurban Rasulov, so it's likely that Igor Leshchuk will be called upon to play in the cup match. Also noteworthy is the return of Caceres and Timofey Marinkin.

The Cup format will remain the same, only the names of the playoff stages will change: the knockout stages of the RPL Path and the Regional Path will now begin in the Round of 16 instead of the Quarterfinals, as was the case in previous seasons; both brackets will conclude with semifinal matches, and the trophy decider will once again be called the Final, not the Super Final.

Voronezh residents solved the issue of returning to the Premier League in one season, finishing second in the First Division after Rodina, which they lost only through personal meetings. And they did it under the leadership of Oleg Vasilenko, who already brought them to the RPL in 2022. However, then the 52-year-old specialist lasted only 8 rounds, after which he was replaced by Dmitry Pyatibratov.

And this time the start in the elite division didn't work out either – two defeats in a row. In the first home match against Dynamo Makhachkala, Voronezh opened the scoring, but then allowed the guests to score twice (1:2). Last Sunday, they conceded three goals in Krasnodar by the 60th minute, but almost won back in the last 10 minutes. As a result, a worthy defeat 2:3 from one of the leaders of the championship, and this with an unrealized penalty from Axel Gnapi.

The Ivorian striker with the French football school and in the First League has distinguished himself only once in 13 matches, and has not yet shone in the RPL. But the newcomers of the team Alexey Sutormin and Maxim Turishchev, who became the authors of the goals against Krasnodar, are showing themselves well. The Voronezh team was also joined by goalkeeper Vyacheslav Dorovskikh, defender Matvey Bardachev, rented from Zenit, and Moroccan lateral Hodeifa El-Mhassani.

– In the end, we managed to wake everyone up a little. We must always play the way we did in the second half. We don't need to play giveaway. During the break, I told the guys that everything should be done much more fun. The guys tried, turned on other speeds. If we maintain the pace of Krasnodar, we can always do it," Vasilenko said after the match.

The teams have never met in the Russian Cup. In total, they held 23 official matches: 10 of them finished in favor of the blue and whites, 7 times a draw was recorded and 6 times a victory for Voronezh. The goal difference is 37:22 in our favor.

The top scorers of the confrontation are: Anton Khazov (4 goals), Oleg Terekhin (4), Dmitry Bulykin (4), Vitaly Safronov (4), Viktor Leonenko (3), Georgy Gongadze (3).

The match was entrusted to Mikhail Plisko, who will be assisted by linesmen Alexander Pavlov and Alexander Turkin. Stanislav Matveev was appointed reserve judge. Rafael Shafeev and Kirill Levnikov will be responsible for the video Referee Assistance System (VAR).

 The 31-year-old referee representing the Leningrad Region has never officiated the matches of the RPL teams before.