Match Preview: CSKA U-21 vs. Dynamo U-21: Where to Watch, Our News, and All About the Opponent

Mikhail Kobyakov’s team will play their first match at the final stage of the Youth League 2024 at the Salyut Heraklion stadium at the address: Moscow, st. Lodochnaya, 15 building 1A.

Dynamo fans will be allocated one of the sectors of the arena. Admission to the game is free, there is no need to buy or receive tickets before the match!

You can watch the live video broadcast of the game:

– in the official Super League account on VKontakte using this link

– in the Tricolor satellite and digital television system, as well as on the television company’s website in the online service kino.tricolor.tv using this link

The meeting starts at 14:00 Moscow time.

The previous match, in which Dynamo met in Novogorsk with Moscow Strogino, completed the preliminary stage of the Youth League 2024 for both teams. It would be a stretch to call it decisive: having 6 points after 5 rounds against Dynamo’s 9, Strolinki had a theoretical chance of second place in Group D and getting into the next stage of the youth championship. To do this, they had to beat the blue and white team with a difference of at least three goals: in the first game away, Dynamo defeated the Muscovites with a score of 4:1. In turn, even a draw was enough for the Dynamo youth team to advance to the next stage.

In general, the game took place under the control of the blue and whites and did not give the fans any cause for concern: the Dynamo team had more possession of the ball (61 to 39%), attacked more often (shots on goal: 19-6, on target - 5-1), were more accurate in passes and did not allow them to create dangerous moments near their goal.

However, Dynamo’s attack didn’t exactly strain Strogino’s defense. If in the first half of the meeting we can note good opportunities to score from Kristina Yakovenko and Ekaterina Sergeeva, as well as Daniella Petrova hitting the post, then in the second half our team did not look very active in attack, and the opponent constantly found loopholes in defense. If the dynamos did fire, it was sporadically, but this was clearly not enough. Yes, Taisiya Razvorotneva and the same Sergeeva scored some good shots, but it’s hardly possible to call them truly goal-scoring.

But the Dynamo team achieved the main thing in this particular match: they did not concede, scored one point and guaranteed themselves access to the second stage of the Youth League from second place, where they will continue to fight for the championship title and medals. Strogino will spend the second part of the season in a group of teams that will compete for 11th-20th places.

— This match required a certain result from us. Of course, we wanted to play more actively in attack, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. The quality of the attacking performances was perhaps the worst this season. I can’t say that we didn’t succeed at all. The defensive group tried to control the ball and started attacks well, but the attack itself was toothless. We will figure it out and prepare for the next stage, where each opponent is very serious and there will definitely be no easy matches

We tried to involve all the players and see everyone in action. In addition to the task of getting into the top ten, it was also necessary to assess how ready the girls were, that is, to obtain the most complete information. In principle, we managed to do this, — summed up the match with Strogino and the first stage of the season in general, the head coach of the Dynamo youth team Mikhail Kobyakov.

Indeed, in the second and final stage of the Youth League, Dynamo will compete with the best teams of the youth championship. It will be attended by teams that took 1st to 2nd place in their groups at the end of the group stage. They will compete for 1-10th places in the Youth League and accordingly determine the champion and prize-winners of the 2024 season.

Let us remind you that our youth team took 2nd place in Group D, losing first place to Zenit St. Petersburg. Since when moving to the second stage only games played between teams participating in the previous stage are taken into account, Dynamo will start it with 0 points and a goal difference of 0-6. We remember two defeats from Zenit (0:4 and 0:2). And already in the first round of the so-called final stage of the 1-10 Youth League, our girls will have to meet away with the current champion of the championship - WFC CSKA.

The opponent of the blue and white in the 1st round is the youth team of the WFC CSKA. Actually, at the moment the most titled club in the Youth League, which has existed since 2021 and has managed to play three seasons. So, in two of them it was the CSKA youth team that won, another title was won by the Lokomotiv youth team - in the very 2022 season in which Dynamo made its debut and until the last round fought with the railway workers for gold medals.

It’s interesting that in the case of CSKA, there is so far only one scenario for playing in the Youth League: either gold or nothing. Thus, having won gold medals in 2021 and 2023, in 2022 the army team did not even make it into the top three: in addition to the already mentioned Loko and Dynamo, who competed for the championship title, bronze medals were then won by the Samara Wings of the Soviets. Well, the CSKA youth team showed its worst result that season - 7th place.

Much water has passed under the bridge since then, and now the army team is again the reigning champion and, of course, one of the main contenders for the championship in the 2024 season. There is no doubt about this, although based on the results that they showed in the first group stage: 6 wins in 6 matches in Group D, 18 points and a goal difference of 32-3. In 5 games out of 6, army football players crushed their rivals: Kaliningrad “Baltika” (8:0 and 6:0) and “Rostov” (5:0 and 5:1) especially suffered, but “Ryazan-VDV” managed to lose to the champions “only” 4:0 and 4:2.

However, as a consolation (weak, of course) for everyone who will meet with CSKA in the second part of the season, it should be noted that the army club has the worst goal difference among the teams that won their groups. Total "+29". So, for Zenit, who played in the same group with Dynamo, the goal difference was “+ 41”, for “Lokomotiv” - “+ 42”, but for “Krasnodar” - “+51”!

Which, however, did not prevent the army team from taking one of the places at the top of the Youth League standings after moving to the second stage. They will start it in 2nd place with 6 points and a goal difference of 10-1.

The CSKA youth team is headed by 38-year-old Kirill Shestakov, a former midfielder of Nosta (Novotroitsk), Pskova-2000, Sodovik (Sterlitamak) and a number of clubs from Kazakhstan, where he even won the national Cup as part of FC Alma-Ata " Having led the CSKA U-21 women's team after an unsuccessful 2022 season, the young coach in his first year of work made it the champion of the Youth League and is now confidently leading it to at least championship medals.

If you don’t see familiar faces and names in the army team, then a whole group of ex-CSKA football players are now playing in the Dynamo team: defender Valentina Senoyedova (2021-2022, 11 matches), midfielders Nicole Greuli (2021-2022, 7 matches) and Taisiya Razvorotneva (2020-2022, 10 matches), forward Ksenia Skotnikova (2021-2023, 9 matches). All of them respectively became champions of the Youth League as part of the army club, so for them meetings with the former team will be both fundamental and nostalgic.

As for the history of the confrontation between the two clubs, it is already quite rich, although there is a nuance: out of 5 matches, three were friendly. However, the advantage in personal matches is on Dynamo's side: 3 wins, 2 losses, goal difference 8-10. The top scorer of the opposition is Kristina Yakovenko (4 goals).

Interestingly, Dynamo’s last victory over CSKA in official games took place almost two years ago – on July 9, 2022, as part of the 11th round of the Youth League. Then the away victory over the reigning champions was brought to Sergei Lavrentiev’s team by a single, but very beautiful goal from Galina Geybieva in the middle of the first half. You can remember and see how it happened in the episode “Between Us, Girls” from the village of Yastrebki, Moscow Region, where this cool match took place then.

The new meeting within the Youth League will be served by a refereeing team led by Anastasia Varfolomeeva, who will be assisted by assistant referees Elena Pokorskaya and Oksana Likhacheva (all from Moscow).

Previously, Varfolomeeva worked at Dynamo matches: twice against Chertanovo - in the Youth League (2:1) and the Super League (1:1); and twice against ZhFK Strogino - in the 1/16 of the Russian Cup (11:1) and in the Youth League (0:0).

Balance of victories and defeats of Dynamo under refereeing Varfolomeeva: 4 matches - 2 wins, 2 draws, goal difference 14-3.