From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Sep 2027
A 3-2 win over Arsenal Tula, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Nail Umyarov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
6 appearances at Spartak Kostroma and the goals keep coming. Spartak Moscow are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Nail Umyarov has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Nail Umyarov keeps the shirt for now, at Spartak Moscow's convenience rather than his own.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
The press have found their man in Esequiel Barco
Column inches are not points, but a footballer whose name keeps appearing for the right reasons is a footballer whose price has just gone up.
Market27 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Spartak Moscow know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Ufa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartak Moscow and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Market13 Sep 2027
The name of Artem Chudakov has come up in conversations Spartak Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match11 Sep 2027
A 1-1 draw with Zenit leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad13 Sep 2027
At 20 years old, Zakhar Dyatlov became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Igor Dmitriev
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Spartak Moscow have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match28 Aug 2027
It finished 3-3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad30 Aug 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexandr Maximenko knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Market30 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Spartak Moscow will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Nail Umyarov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Aug 2027
1-2, and no way to dress it up. A derby defeat follows a supporter to work on Monday, and this one will follow him all week.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market23 Aug 2027
The name of Artem Chudakov has come up in conversations Spartak Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match14 Aug 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation Spartak Moscow did not have in the autumn.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Abdul Mumin gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Ufa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartak Moscow and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Market16 Aug 2027
Akron are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Spartak Moscow will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match14 Aug 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Lokomotiv Moscow defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Market16 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luis Ángel Mendoza may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad16 Aug 2027
At 27 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Spartak Moscow are won quietly and lost loudly.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Column inches are not points, but a footballer whose name keeps appearing for the right reasons is a footballer whose price has just gone up.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Aug 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Spartak Moscow did not have in the autumn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match7 Aug 2027
Fakel made Spartak Moscow work for it, but the scoreboard read 3-2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad9 Aug 2027
63 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artem Chudakov commits to Spartak Moscow for another 4 years.
Market9 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Spartak Moscow will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market9 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Spartak Moscow know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.