The business end of the 2011-12 Russian Premier League season began this weekend with the sixteen teams split into two groups of eight. In recent seasons the league would've concluded after thirty rounds of matches but due to the changing of the league season from a spring-autumn season to an autumn-spring timetable from the 2012-13 season another fourteen rounds of matches are necessary in order to decide championship and relegation matters this time around.

P TIMES PG J V E D GM GS SG 1 Zenit 47 22 13 8 1 42 13 29 2 Dynamo Moscou 44 23 13 5 5 43 25 18 3 CSKA Moscou 44 23 12 8 3 40 22 18 4 Rubin Kazan 38 22 10 8 4 28 18 10 5 Anzhi Makhachkala 37 22 10 7 5 25 19 6 6 Lokomotiv Moscou 36 22 10 6 6 33 22 11 7 Spartak Moscou 36 22 10 6 6 30 25 5 8 Kuban 34 22 10 4 8 29 21 8 9 Krasnodar 26 22 6 8 8 24 32 -8 10 Terek 23 22 6 5 11 20 32 -12 11 Amkar Perm 23 22 5 8 9 15 28 -13 12 Volga 20 22 6 2 14 20 30 -10 13 Tom Tomsk 20 22 4 8 10 18 35 -17 14 Rostov 18 22 4 6 12 23 37 -14 15 Spartak Nalchik 17 22 3 8 11 18 29 -11 16 Krylia Sovetov 16 22 3 7 12 14 34 -20

CSKA Moscow currently top the Russian League

The 2011-12 Russian Premier League may still have a long way to go but the next nine rounds of matches will prove intriguing. After 30 rounds the league is split into a championship group and a relegation group with eight teams in each. It is, therefore, vitally important for every club that they put some form together at this crucial time.

Bochornoso incidente racista el que se ha vivido en la Liga rusa de fútbol. En un partido entre el Krylia Sovetov de Samara y el Anzhi Makhachkala, el jugador brasileño, ex del Real Madrid, Roberto Carlos, abandonó el terreno de juego tras recibir insultos... y un plátano lanzado desde la grada.