The Russian football championship is currently not one of the most prestigious in Europe and is not included in the five strongest championships of the continent. However, this does not mean that the fight for the championship in it is not interesting. In Russia, there are practically no situations in which one club would dominate over a long period of time. That is why in this article you can learn about the most titled club in Russia of the twenty-first century. All tournaments in which Russian clubs take part will be considered, that is, the Russian Championship (Premier League), the Russian Cup, the Russian Super Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League. Three of these tournaments are regional, while the last two are continental. What is the most titled football club in Russia?
Who won the most?
Before considering the twenty-first century, you need to find out the most titled football club in Russia in the history of the championship. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the Russian Championship appeared relatively recently, because before that a single trophy of the entire USSR was played. Due to this, Moscow “Spartak”, which was considered one of the strongest clubs in Europe during the USSR, was able to maintain the reputation of the strongest for a certain period of time. And it is Spartak that is the most titled football club in Russia. However, the article deals directly with the twenty-first century, therefore, the results of only the last seventeen years will be further considered.
Main applicants
Who do you think will become the most titled football clubs in Russia of the 21st century? In fact, there are not so many applicants, so it's worth taking a look at each of them. Firstly, this is the same Spartak, which still remains one of the strongest clubs in Russia. As for the strongest nominal club, then at the moment it is St. Petersburg “Zenith”. Also, do not write off the accounts of CSKA Moscow club in recent years does not show its best football, but still won a lot of trophies. As a matter of fact, these three clubs are currently the strongest in Russia, therefore, most likely, it was precisely one of them that took the most trophies in the 21st century. Naturally, if the most titled football club of Russia and the USSR were considered, then the results would be completely different. But in this article we are talking about the current century, do not forget about this important fact.
Russian championship
The Russian Championship was founded immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and at first it was won exclusively by Spartak. If it was about the most titled Russian football club in the history of this tournament, then Spartak would definitely win. But the countdown begins in 2000 , and during this period the Moscow club won only three times: in 2000, 2001 and 2017. Moscow “Lokomotiv” and Kazan “Rubin” were not the winners of the top three, which were discussed above, and each of these clubs won the championship twice. Loko became the champion in 2002 and 2004, and Rubin in 2008 and 2009. Well, the most successful in the 21st century were CSKA and Zenit. CSKA won the Russian Championship 6 times, and Zenit - 4 times. Accordingly, the most titled football club in Russia in the 21st century (if we take into account only the Championship of Russia) is CSKA. But there are other tournaments worth paying attention to.
Cup of Russia
As for the Cup of Russia, not only the strongest clubs won here, as luck can play an important role in this tournament. Unlike the championship, this tournament is played “on the fly”, so if the team was unlucky once, then it will no longer be able to correct its mistake.
So, three clubs won the Cup of Russia once - Terek in 2004, Rubin in 2012 and Rostov in 2014. They also include Spartak, which won this tournament three times, but only once did it in the 21st century - in 2003. Zenit proved to be a little better, having won two trophies in 2010 and 2016. But the best participants in this tournament are Lokomotiv and CSKA. As you recall, the first club did not show anything impressive in the Championship, but in the Cup managed to win five times (and two more times in the 20th century). Well, the real king of the cups is CSKA. The club won seven trophies, all of which went to CSKA in the 21st century.
Russian Super Cup
The Russian Super Cup is a tournament in which the winners of the Championship and the Cup of Russia meet . It began to be held in 2003, so there will be fewer trophies than in the case of the Championship and the Cup. Twice this trophy was won by Lokomotiv and Rubin. The Moscow club both times won, being the champion of Russia, and Kazan once was the champion, and once - the owner of the Cup.
But the main fight was between Zenit and CSKA: Petersburgers won the Super Cup four times, while he succumbed to the army team six times. The match for the Russian Super Cup in 2017 has not yet taken place, but Spartak and Lokomotiv will play in it, so that neither Zenit nor CSKA will replenish their collection. For Spartak, this trophy may be the first in history.
Champions League
As for the Champions League, here, unfortunately, no Russian club can add a single point, since in the 21st century they did not win this most prestigious club tournament. Moreover, Russian clubs have never in their history won the Champions League (and the European Cup, as this tournament was called earlier) and did not even reach the final of this tournament.
Europa League
Unfortunately, not a single Russian club has won in the Europa League, but this does not mean that no one will get extra points. The fact is that in this format the tournament exists recently. Until 2009, it was called the UEFA Cup, and there already the Russians managed to succeed. In 2005, “CSKA” was in the final, where he defeated the Portuguese “Sporting”. And in 2008, the main competitor of the army “Zenith” also reached the finals, where he defeated the Scottish club “Rangers”. Thus, twice in the 21st century, Russian clubs won the UEFA Cup. Accordingly, it is impossible to unequivocally name the most titled football club in Russia in Europe, since both Zenit and CSKA have one trophy.
Summary
Well, it's time to take stock and find out which Russian club has the most titles in the 21st century. There is nothing unexpected in the fact that the winner is CSKA, which in total collected twenty trophies this century, while its closest pursuer, Zenit, has only eleven. These two clubs are the most powerful representatives of Russian football in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, domestic football after the collapse of the Soviet Union is still rather weak, and clubs from Russia do not show the results that could have shown teams from the Soviet Union. However, there is still a lot of time ahead. And if Russia manages to solve all the problems that are currently present, then Russian clubs will definitely be able to compete in European football and win much more trophies than the two UEFA Cups.
So far, Russia has retained its place in the top ten championships in Europe, but it is necessary to aim not at maintaining this position, but at getting a better result. The ideal result would be to be in the top five leagues, but in the current state the Russian Championship and its representatives will not be able to compete with even the weakest of the five strongest tournaments, the French Championship.