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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in Russia since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

and the 19th under the current

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

name.

Teams

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

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

and Krylia Sovetov were relegated to the 2020–21 Russian Football National League. Both return to the second tier after a two-year stay in the top tier. They were replaced by

Rotor ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...

and

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

, the winners and runners up of the 2019–20 Russian Football National League. 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-game 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 playoff, 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 (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

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

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Orenburg. Founded in 1976, it will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season. History It played professionally as Gazovik ...

and

FC Alania Vladikavkaz FC Spartak Vladikavkaz () was a Russian football club based in Vladikavkaz (formerly Ordzhonikidze), North Ossetia–Alania. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League during the communist era, and won its first and only league t ...

) 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 would have faced

FC Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula () 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 2014 for the first time in its hi ...

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 and

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. They are the league's reigning champions. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Divis ...

due to more than 7 positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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 () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

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

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 (CSKA) ;Right backs # Mário Fernandes (CSKA) # Vyacheslav Karavayev (Zenit) # Dmitri Rybchinsky (Lokomotiv) ;Right-centre backs # Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv) #

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club PAOK. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Lyon in January 2010. He spent three and a half seas ...

(Zenit) # Samuel Gigot (Spartak) ;Left-centre backs # Yaroslav Rakitskiy (Zenit) # Georgi Dzhikiya (Spartak) # Pablo (Lokomotiv) ;Left backs # Douglas Santos (Zenit) # Ilya Samoshnikov (Rubin) # Ayrton (Spartak) ;Right midfielders # Malcom (Zenit) # Denis Makarov (Rubin) # Wanderson (Krasnodar) ;Right central midfielders # Christian Noboa (Sochi) # Wilmar Barrios (Zenit) # Wendel (Zenit) ;Left central midfielders #

Grzegorz Krychowiak Grzegorz Krychowiak (; born 29 January 1990) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta FC, Anorthosis Famagusta. Beginning his senior caree ...

(Lokomotiv) #

Nikola Vlašić Nikola Vlašić (; born 4 October 1997) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder (association football)#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Italian Serie A club Torino FC, Torino and the C ...

(CSKA) # Magomed Ozdoyev (Zenit) ;Left midfielders # Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Rubin) # Daniil Lesovoy (Dynamo) #

Chidera Ejuke Chidera Ejuke (born 2 January 1998) is a Nigerian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Spanish club Sevilla FC, Sevilla and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria national t ...

(CSKA) ;Right forwards # Artem Dzyuba (Zenit) #

Đorđe Despotović Đorđe Despotović (; born 4 March 1992) is a Serbian footballer who plays as a centre forward for Bosnian club Borac Banja Luka. Career In February 2015, Despotović moved on loan to FC Zhetysu for six-months. In July 2015 he went for anoth ...

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

Sardar Azmoun Sardar Azmoun ( (Sardâr Âzmun); born 1 January 1995) is an Iranian professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli Club, Shabab Al Ahli and the Iran na ...

(Zenit) # Jordan Larsson (Spartak) #

Fyodor Smolov Fyodor Mikhaylovich Smolov ( rus, Фёдор Миха́йлович Смо́лов, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ˈsmoləf, links=yes; born 9 February 1990) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Club career Smolo ...

(Lokomotiv)

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

(Zenit) * Best coach:

Sergei Semak Sergei Bogdanovich Semak ( ; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who manages Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg. Early life Semak was born in the village of Sychanske, ...

(Zenit) * Best team:

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

* Hope award (Best Under-21 player): Arsen Zakharyan (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: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (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