The 2020–21 Russian Premier League（known as the Tinkoff Russian Premier League, also written as Tinkoff Russian Premier Liga for sponsorship reasons）was the 29th season of the premier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition in Russia since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the 17th under the current

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

name.

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2020–21 season. After the 2019–20 season,

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

and Krylia Sovetov were relegated to the

2020–21 Russian Football National League The 2020–21 Russian Football National League was the 29th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on August 1, 2020 and end in 15 May 2021. Stadia by capacity Team chang ...

. Both return to the second tier after a two-year stay in the top tier. They were replaced by

Rotor Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering *Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator * Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

and

Khimki Khimki ( rus, Химки, p=ˈxʲimkʲɪ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 18.25 kilometres northwest of central Moscow, and immediately beyond the Moscow city boundary. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station tha ...

, the winners and runners up of the

2019–20 Russian Football National League The 2019–20 Russian Football National League was the 28th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 7 July 2019 and ended on 15 May 2020 (last games were played on 15 March). S ...

. Rotor Volgograd returned to the Premier League after a 16-year absence, while Khimki returned after an 11-year absence.

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Tournament format and regulations

Basic

The 16 teams were playing a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams twice, once at home and once away. Thus, a total of 240 matches was played, with 30 matches played by each team.

Promotion and relegation

The teams that finish 15th and 16th will be relegated to the FNL 2021–22, while the top 2 in that league will be promoted to the 2021–22 season. The 13th and 14th Premier League teams will play the 4th and 3rd FNL 2020–21 teams respectively in two (home-and-away) playoff games with the winners securing Premier League spots for the 2021–22 season. In case one of the Premier League teams that finish 13th and 14th will not pass licensing for the 2021–22 Premier League season, the other Premier League club will remain in the league, and the 3rd and 4th FNL teams will play each other in a two games playoff for the remaining spot. In case one of the FNL teams that finish 3rd and 4th will not pass licensing for the 2021–22 Premier League season, the team that finished Premier League in 13th place will remain in the league, and the team that finished 14th will play the FNL team that passed licensing in a two game playoffs, with the winner securing the Premier League spot. In case only two of the clubs otherwise eligible for the playoffs pass licensing for the 2020–21 season, the playoffs will not be held and the clubs that passed licensing will get the Premier League spots. In case any teams otherwise eligible for the 2021–22 Premier League (including the top 2 2020–21 FNL clubs) will not pass licensing or will be unable to participate in the season for any other reason, the spots will be passed on to the teams that lost in the playoffs, in order of their 2020–21 league position, with the Premier League positions considered higher than FNL positions (for example, if 13th Premier League team and 3rd FNL team lose in the playoffs, the spot will go to the 13th Premier League team). If, after following these procedures, there are still 2021–22 Premier League spots available (in case 3 or more teams otherwise qualified are unable to participate), the remaining replacements will be chosen by the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (russian: Российский Футбольный Союз, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it org ...

with agreement of the Premier League and FNL. 2nd and 4th FNL teams (

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg (russian: ФК «Оренбург») is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club from Orenburg, founded in 1976. It will return to the Russian Premier League for the 2022–23 season. History It ...

and

FC Alania Vladikavkaz FC Spartak Vladikavkaz (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Спартак Владикавказ») was a Russian association football, football club based in Vladikavkaz (formerly Ordzhonikidze), North Ossetia–Alania. Founded in ...

) failed licensing for the 2021–22 Premier League season (due to lack of acceptable stadium), their appeal was denied on 12 May 2021. On 15 May 2021, Russian Football Union confirmed that the relegation playoffs will not be held. RFU also amended the playoff regulations accordingly. If the original version of the regulations was followed to the letter,

FC Nizhny Novgorod FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod (russian: ФК «Пари Нижний Новгород») or FC Pari NN for short is a Russian football club from Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 2015. It made its debut in the Russian Premier League in the 2021–22 seaso ...

would have faced

FC Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula (russian: ФК Арсенал Тула) is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League ...

in a home-and-away playoff series, and then the loser of the series would be promoted into the Premier League anyway, rendering the playoffs meaningless.

Season events

On 13 September 2020, the league cancelled the game between

FC Rotor Volgograd SC Rotor Volgograd (russian: СK Ротор) is a Russian professional football club from the large city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (formerly Stalingrad). The club will play in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2 in the 2022–2 ...

and

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the Ru ...

due to more than 7 positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

tests among the Rotor players and staff. On 16 September 2020,

assigned a 3–0 victory to Krasnodar. On 18 September 2020, the league cancelled the game between

FC Rostov FC Rostov (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб Ростов) is a Russian professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast. The club are members of the Russian Premier League, and play at the Rostov Arena. After the 20 ...

and Rotor originally scheduled for 19 September due to continuing positive virus tests at Rotor. On 22 September 2020, Russian Football Union assigned a 3–0 victory to Rostov.

League table

Results

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Top assists

Season awards

Russian Football Union awards

On 15 July 2021,

named its list of 33 top players:

;Goalkeepers # Yury Dyupin (Rubin) # Ilya Lantratov (Khimki) #

Igor Akinfeev Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev ( rus, Игорь Владимирович Акинфеев, Igor' Vladimirovich Akinfeyev, p=ˈiɡərʲ vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐkʲɪnˈfʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 April 1986) is a Russian professional footballer who pla ...

(CSKA) ;Right backs #

Mário Fernandes Mário Figueira Fernandes (russian: Марио Фигейра Фернандес, ; born 19 September 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Internacional on loan from CSKA Moscow. Born in Brazil, he represented the R ...

(CSKA) # Vyacheslav Karavayev (Zenit) # Dmitri Rybchinsky (Lokomotiv) ;Right-centre backs #

Vedran Ćorluka Vedran Ćorluka (; born 5 February 1986) is a Croatian football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is an assistant to Zlatko Dalić in the Croatia national team. Ćorluka graduated from the Dinamo Zagreb Youth Academy, ...

(Lokomotiv) #

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Croatia national team. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to ...

(Zenit) # Samuel Gigot (Spartak) ;Left-centre backs # Yaroslav Rakitskiy (Zenit) #

Georgi Dzhikiya Georgi Tamazovich Dzhikiya (russian: Георгий Тамазович Джикия, ka, გიორგი თამაზის ძე ჯიქია; born 21 November 1993) is a Russian professional footballer, who plays as a centre-back fo ...

(Spartak) #

Pablo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

(Lokomotiv) ;Left backs # Douglas Santos (Zenit) #

Ilya Samoshnikov Ilya Andreyevich Samoshnikov (russian: Илья Андреевич Самошников; born 14 November 1997) is a Russian football player who plays as a left back for FC Rubin Kazan. He also played in the left midfielder and right back posit ...

(Rubin) # Ayrton (Spartak) ;Right midfielders # Denis Makarov (Rubin) # Malcom (Zenit) # Wanderson (Krasnodar) ;Right central midfielders #

Christian Noboa Christian Fernando Noboa Tello (; born 9 April 1985) is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays for Russian Premier League club PFC Sochi and the Ecuador national team as a central midfielder. Club career Emelec Christian started out at Emelec. ...

(Sochi) # Wilmar Barrios (Zenit) # Wendel (Zenit) ;Left central midfielders #

Grzegorz Krychowiak Grzegorz Krychowiak (; born 29 January 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab, on loan from Krasnodar, and the Poland national team. Beginning his senior career in France ...

(Lokomotiv) #

Nikola Vlašić Nikola Vlašić (; born 4 October 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Torino, on loan from Premier League club West Ham United, and the Croatia national team. Born in the Vlašić fa ...

(CSKA) #

Magomed Ozdoyev Magomed Mustafayevich Ozdoyev (russian: Магомед Мустафаевич Оздоев; born 5 November 1992) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük. Personal life Magomed ...

(Zenit) ;Left midfielders #

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ( ka, ხვიჩა კვარაცხელია, tr; born 12 February 2001) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Napoli and the Georgia national team. Club career Early car ...

(Rubin) # Daniil Lesovoy (Dynamo) # Chidera Ejuke (CSKA) ;Right forwards #

Artem Dzyuba Artem (or Artyom) Sergeyevich Dzyuba (russian: Артём Сергеевич Дзюба, ; born 22 August 1988) is a Russian professional football player who plays as a striker for the Russia national football team. He began his career with Spa ...

(Zenit) #

Đorđe Despotović Đorđe Despotović (; born 4 March 1992) is a Serbs, Serbian Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), centre forward. Career In February 2015, Despotović moved on loan to FC Zhetysu for six-months. In Jul ...

(Rubin) # Aleksandr Sobolev (Spartak) ;Left forwards #

Sardar Azmoun Sardar Azmoun ( fa, سردار آزمون (Sardâr Âzmôn); born 1 January 1995) is an Iranian professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer L ...

(Zenit) # Jordan Larsson (Spartak) #

Fyodor Smolov Fyodor Mikhaylovich Smolov ( rus, link=yes, Фёдор Миха́йлович Смо́лов, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ˈsmoləf; born 9 February 1990) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Dynamo Moscow and ...

(Lokomotiv)

Other awards announced by RFU on the same day included: * Best player:

(Zenit) * Best coach:

Sergei Semak Sergei Bogdanovich Semak (russian: Серге́й Богда́нович Сема́к ; uk, Сергій Богданович Семак; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who currently ...

(Zenit) * Best team:

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...

* Hope award (Best Under-21 player):

Arsen Zakharyan Arsen Norayrovich Zakharyan ( arm, Արսեն Նորայրի Զախարյան; russian: Арсен Норайрович Захарян; born 26 May 2003) is a Russian professional association football, footballer of Armenian descent who plays as ...

(Dynamo) * For contribution to football development: Yevgeni Giner (CSKA)

Russian Premier League awards

* Player of the season:

(Zenit) * Coach of the season:

(Zenit) * Goal of the season: Denis Makarov (Rubin 2–1 Zenit, 8 March 2021) * Young player of the season:

(Rubin) * Goalkeeper of the season:

Guilherme Guilherme is a Portuguese given name, equivalent to William in English. The feminine form of this name is Guilhermina. Diminutive forms include Guilhermino. Vilma (Portuguese form of Wilma) is another female variant of the name. Brazilian foot ...

(Lokomotiv)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2020-2021 Russian Premier League Russian Premier League seasons 1 Russian Premier League, Rus