Running our eye over Akhmat Grozny before today's big game

James Nickels takes a look at Akhmat Grozny before today big game at Stadium St. Petersburg and lets us know what to expect from a side who've given Zenit plenty of problems in recent years. 

Week 6 of the RFPL pits Zenit up against Ramzan Kadyrov’s Akhmat Grozny, who may appear to be a new face in the league this year. In fact, Akhmat is merely Terek renamed, after Akhmad Kadyrov, the first President of Chechnya and father of Ramzan. The weekend’s game should be one to look forward to, with both club’s playing among the best football in Russia right now amidst an influx of South American stars at each side.

Akhmat was originally formed back in 1946 as Dynamo Grozny and has went through various name changes as Neftyanik (1948) then to Terek in 1958, the name of the river which flows through Chechnya, and most fans of Russian football will know it as, and then again as aforementioned to Akhmat in the summer. The club has undergone quite a tumultuous history, being suspended entirely for numerous years during the Chechen Wars, and from 1990-2007 being forced to play in Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Krai, some 286km west of Grozny. The region itself has also experienced quite a tumultuous history, and is now an “independent” Federal Subject of the Russian Federation. Previously, until 1991, it was the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, and before this an annexed part of the Russian Empire after Alexander I and Nicholas I significantly increased their power in the Caucasus region following the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) and Caucasus War (1826-1828) against the Persian and Ottoman Empires. The region has been shaped by conflict, and the team play very much like this on the field.

Since returning to Grozny in 2008 following promotion from the FNL, Kadyrov has personally financed the club, using it as a symbol for Chechen regeneration and success. The club has been ever present in the RFPL ever since and finished in its highest ever position last season at fifth.

Long term head coach Rashid Rakhimov was forced to resign during the summer due to ill-health but was replaced adequately by Oleg Kononov, former boss of FC Krasnodar. Kononov has had a long and illustrious career, having both played and managed in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Moldova, having previously won the Ukrainian First League as manager of Sevastopol and earning the bronze medal in the RFPL for finishing third with Krasnodar in 2014/15.

The Belorussian has – like Rakhimov – favoured a 3-5-2 formation thus far this season, and up until last weekend had returned some very successful results. In the opening three rounds of the season, Akhmat sat in joint first with three wins, without even conceding a single goal. Since, then, however, Akhmat has stumbled somewhat after two successive 3-2 defeats away to Ufa and at home to Kononov’s former team, Krasnodar. Despite playing some very effective football led by the form of Leo Jaba and Magomed Mitrishev up front, heir two latest results bring their credentials as European challengers into question, as the previous three victories were against some of the smaller teams in the league.

Akhmat has the lowest average and weighted age of any side this season as Kononov has preferred to go for youth, as 29.31% of all time played by players at the club has been by those aged 23 or younger, easily the highest in the league thus far – although Zenit are not far behind at 20.02%. The game at the Zenit Arena should provide Akhmat with their first real test of the season so far, and it will be interesting to see how Kononov’s young side fair against Mancini’s stars.

The aforementioned Leo Jaba has been Akhmat’s star player in attack this season, with a fantastic goal on his debut followed by another last weekend against Ufa. Although still only eighteen, he has showed maturity and talent beyond his years, and will likely be a star to come for the Grozny-based side. Another Brazilian summer signing who has starred alongside Angel Wilker and Andrei Semyonov in central defence is 22-year-old Philipe Sampaio, a talented ball-playing defender. He has been a mainstay in defence for Akhmat this season, and was vital in keeping three clean sheets at the beginning of this season. In the last two games, Akhmat has conceded five goals from six after breaking up this back three, with Semyonov leaving the field due to injury against Ufa and Sampaio himself being subbed off for another fellow Brazilian, defensive midfielder Ismael Silva, who made his debut in a tactical shift. In fact, Brazil has been a happy hunting ground for Akhmat in the transfer market, with a massive 25% of all of the sides’ foreign players’ coming from the South American giant.

Ablaye Mbengue will definitely miss the game, having not played this season after picking up and injury in pre-season. Bekim Balaj is also doubtful for the game having missing Akhmat’s last three matches. As a result, their only fit senior striker is Zaur Sadayev, therefore Mitrishev and Leo Jaba will likely start in attack.

Check out James' articles and more over at russianfootballnews.com.