The 2008 Russian Premier League was the 17th edition of the Russian Football Championship, and the seventh under the current Russian Premier League name. The season started on Friday, 14 March 2008 with a match between Terek and Krylia Sovetov in Grozny. Krylia Sovetov won 3–0. The first goal of the season was scored by Krylia Sovetov's forward Yevgeny Savin.
Due to Russia's participation in UEFA Euro 2008, the season was interrupted from 16 May until 5 July.
The champions were determined on the 27th matchday, 2 November 2008. Rubin claimed their first championship title in Russian Premier League, defeating Saturn 2–1 away, with Savo Milošević scoring in the 89th minute to claim the title for his club. Rubin became the third (and second consecutive) non-Moscow club to become Russian champions.
The last round of matches was played on 22 November 2008.
Teams As in the previous season, 16 teams played in the 2008 season. After the 2007 season, Kuban Krasnodar and Rostov were relegated to the 2008 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Shinnik Yaroslavl and Terek Grozny, the winners and runners up of the 2007 Russian First Division.
Venues Amkar CSKA Dynamo Khimki Zvezda Stadium Luzhniki Stadium Central Stadium Arena Khimki Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 76,000 Capacity: 36,540 Capacity: 18,000 Krylia Lokomotiv Metallurg Stadium RZD Arena Capacity: 33,220 Capacity: 28,800 Luch-Energia Moscow Dynamo Stadium Eduard Streltsov Stadium Capacity: 10,200 Capacity: 13,422 Rubin Saturn Central Stadium Saturn Stadium Capacity: 30,133 Capacity: 16,726 Shinnik Spartak Moscow Shinnik Stadium Luzhniki Stadium Capacity: 19,000 Capacity: 76,000 Spartak Nalchik Terek Tom Zenit Saint Petersburg Spartak Stadium Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium Trud Stadium Petrovsky Stadium Capacity: 14,400 Capacity: 10,400 Capacity: 14,950 Capacity: 21,725
Personnel and kits TeamLocationHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAmkar PermPerm Miodrag Božović Aleksei PopovAdidasCSKAMoscow Valery Gazzaev Igor AkinfeevReebokVTBDynamoMoscow Andrey Kobelev Dmitri KhokhlovUmbroMetalloinvestKhimkiKhimki Sergei Yuran Roman BerezovskyNikeMezhregionalnaya Developerskaya KompaniaKryliaSamara Leonid Slutsky Matthew BoothUmbroRosTekhnologiiLokomotivMoscow Rashid Rakhimov Diniyar BilyaletdinovAdidasRussian RailwaysLuch-EnergiaVladivostok Semen Altman Dmitry SmirnovNikeDalEnergoMoscowMoscow Oleg Blokhin Dmitri GodunokUmbroNorilsk NickelRubinKazan Kurban Berdyev Sergei SemakNikeТАИФSaturnRamenskoye Jürgen Röber Aleksei IgoninAdidasShinnikYaroslavl Sergei Pavlov Denis BoyarintsevAdidasSpartakMoscow Michael Laudrup MozartNikeLukoilSpartakNalchik Yuri Krasnozhan Miodrag DžudovićNikeTerekGrozny Vyacheslav Hroznyi Timur DzhabrailovUmbroRAO UESTomTomsk Valery Nepomnyashchy Valeri KlimovAdidasZenitSaint Petersburg Dick Advocaat Anatoliy TymoshchukPumaGazprom
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Moscow Leonid Slutsky Fired End of 2007 SeasonPreseason Oleg Blokhin 14 December 2007Preseason Amkar Rashid Rakhimov Joined Lokomotiv 6 December 2007 Miodrag Božović 9 January 2008 Krylia Aleksandr Tarkhanov Leonid Slutsky 21 December 2007 Lokomotiv Anatoliy Byshovets Rashid Rakhimov 6 December 2007 Luch-Energiya Sergei Pavlov Zoran Vulić 19 December 2007 Khimki Slavoljub Muslin Fired 14 April 2008 14th Igor Yushchenko 14 April 2008 14th Khimki Igor Yushchenko End of role 29 May 2008 16th Sergei Yuran 29 May 2008 16th Tom Valery Petrakov Mutual termination 1 June 2008 12th Miroslav Romaschenko 1 June 2008 12th Saturn Gadzhi Gadzhiyev 8 August 2008 12th Jürgen Röber 21 August 2008 12th Spartak Stanislav Cherchesov Fired 14 August 2008 4th Igor Lediakhov 14 August 2008 4th Tom Miroslav Romaschenko Fired 4 September 2008 12th Vasili Baskakov 4 September 2008 12th Tom Vasili Baskakov End of role 11 September 2008 12th Valery Nepomnyashchy 11 September 2008 12th Spartak Igor Lediakhov End of role 12 September 2008 3rd Michael Laudrup 12 September 2008 3rd Luch-Energiya Zoran Vulić 10 October 2008 14th Semen Altman 10 October 2008 14th
League table
Results
Season statistics Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goal1 Vágner Love CSKA 202 Marko Topić Saturn 10 Peter Odemwingie Lokomotiv Danny Dynamo / Zenit Eldar Nizamutdinov Khimki 6 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov Lokomotiv 97 Alan Dzagoev CSKA 8 Fatih Tekke Zenit Anton Bobyor Krylia Héctor Bracamonte Moscow Martin Kushev Amkar
Awards On 16 December 2008 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:
Goalkeepers Igor Akinfeev (CSKA) Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin) Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)
Right backs Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit) Cristian Ansaldi (Rubin) Vasili Berezutskiy (CSKA)
Right-centre backs Denis Kolodin (Dynamo) Rodolfo (Lokomotiv) Dmitri Belorukov (Amkar)
Left-centre backs Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA) Leandro Fernández (Dynamo) Aleksei Popov (Amkar/Rubin)
Left backs Radek Šírl (Zenit) Aleksei Berezutskiy (CSKA) Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv)
Defensive midfielders Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Zenit) Sergei Semak (Rubin) Dmitri Khokhlov (Dynamo)
Right wingers Miloš Krasić (CSKA) Igor Denisov (Zenit) Kirill Kombarov (Dynamo)
Central midfielders Danny (Dynamo/Zenit) Igor Semshov (Dynamo) Alan Dzagoev (CSKA)
Left wingers Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA) Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit) Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv)
Right forwards Vágner Love (CSKA) Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit) Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak M.)
Left forwards Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) Marko Topić (Saturn) Gökdeniz Karadeniz (Rubin)
Medal squads
1. FC Rubin Kazan Goalkeepers: Sergei Ryzhikov (26), Sergei Kozko (6). Defenders: Cristian Ansaldi (27 / 1), Roman Sharonov (26 / 1), Dato Kvirkvelia (24 / 3), Stjepan Tomas (19), Lasha Salukvadze (15), Aleksandr Orekhov (10), Aleksei Popov (7), Jefthon (2), Andrei Fyodorov (1), Gabriel Atz (1). Midfielders: Gökdeniz Karadeniz (27 / 6), Sergei Semak (27 / 5), MacBeth Sibaya (25), Serhii Rebrov (24 / 5), Aleksandr Ryazantsev (22 / 1), Christian Noboa (21 / 6), Andrei Kobenko (17 / 2), Yevgeni Balyaikin (10), Aleksei Rebko (3), Vagiz Galiullin (1), Pyotr Gitselov (1). Forwards: Hasan Kabze (23 / 2), Aleksandr Bukharov (20 / 6), Roman Adamov (13 / 1), Savo Milošević (16 / 3).(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Kurban Berdyev.
Transferred out during the season: Gabriel Atz (on loan to FC Khimki), Pyotr Gitselov (on loan to FC Rostov), Aleksei Rebko (to FC Moscow). 2. PFC CSKA Moscow Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (30). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (28 / 4), Vasili Berezutski (28), Aleksei Berezutski (24 / 2), Deividas Šemberas (24), Chidi Odiah (23), Anton Grigoryev (16). Midfielders: Miloš Krasić (28 / 6), Yuri Zhirkov (28 / 3), Evgeni Aldonin (25 / 3), Elvir Rahimić (23), Alan Dzagoev (20 / 8), Caner Erkin (18 / 1), Pavel Mamayev (17 / 2), Dudu (10 / 1), Luboš Kalouda (1). Forwards: Vágner Love (26 / 20), Ricardo Jesus (10), Jô (8 / 3), Dmitri Ryzhov (8), Ramón (7), Daniel Carvalho (4), Dawid Janczyk (4). Manager: Valery Gazzaev.
Transferred out during the season: Dudu (to Olympiacos), Jô (to Manchester City), Daniel Carvalho (on loan to Internacional). 3. FC Dynamo Moscow Goalkeepers: Vladimir Gabulov (12), Žydrūnas Karčemarskas (9), Anton Shunin (9). Defenders: Leandro Fernández (28 / 4), Denis Kolodin (22 / 1), Jovan Tanasijević (20 / 1), Marcin Kowalczyk (20), Aleksandr Dimidko (12 / 2), Luke Wilkshire (11 / 2), Vladimir Granat (11), Arūnas Klimavičius (9 / 1), Nikita Chicherin (3), Aleksandr Tochilin (3). Midfielders: Dmitri Kombarov (30 / 1), Igor Semshov (29 / 6), Dmitri Khokhlov (27 / 2), Kirill Kombarov (26 / 1), Danny (18 / 5), Andrei Karpovich (12), Aleksandr Denisov (1). Forwards: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (27 / 7), Tsvetan Genkov (23 / 4), Aleksandr Kokorin (7 / 2), Fyodor Smolov (7 / 1).
Manager: Andrey Kobelev.
Transferred out during the season: Danny (to FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Denisov (on loan to FC Salyut-Energia Belgorod).
Attendances
Rank Club Average 1 Krylia Sovetov 21,700 2 Spartak Moscow 21,413 3 Zenit 20,578 4 Rubin 18,434 5 Amkar 16,494 6 PFC CSKA 15,110 7 Lokomotiv Moscow 14,108 8 Dynamo Moscow 13,067 9 Tom 12,820 10 Shinnik 10,300 11 Spartak Nalchik 10,293 12 Saturn 9,193 13 Terek 8,731 14 Luch 8,413 15 Khimki 8,181 16 FC Moscow 4,513Source:
References
External links Official website Russian Football Union