Football Season Guide

Sochi secured an unlikely immediate return back to the Premier League last season thanks to a win over a hapless Nizhny Novgorod side in the relegation play-off, turning a 2:1 deficit from the first leg into a 4:3 aggregate win thanks to a superb win in the away game. They were never really among the best teams in the second division last season but hung around the top five long enough and managed to sneak through via the play-offs, thus ensuring top-flight football for the local fans again for the upcoming year. Spanish coach Roberto Moreno looked like he was leaving at the end of last season, having actually been removed from duties fir the second leg of the play-offs, but he and the club came to an agreement to continue their cooperation. He failed to keep them up when he took over in the back end of the 23/24 season but now, with a clean slate and a better squad at his disposal, the former Spanish national team coach will back himself to make Sochi a solid and assured team that is orbiting neat the top half of the standings. They have made some excellent signings already in winger Roman Ezhov and Spartak Moscow pair Anton Zinkovskyi and Mikahil Ignatov. They all look like ready, capable, plug-and-play type of players already and should fit the overall level of the squad. Martin Kramaric, Vyachelsav Litvinov and promising goalie Aleksandr Degtev were among the standout players of last-year campaign who will be looking to step it up another level while more experienced pros like Ruslan Magal, Oleg Kozhemaikin and Artem Makarhcuk will have the responsibility of guiding their younger teammates in tough situations. As a whole, the squad has a nice balance and looks like one of the better ones in the league already, with the club clearly aspiring to make more additions before the end of the window.