Rubin Kazan 1-1 Barcelona

My internet at my new flat here is awful but just a quick note to ask what exactly is it about Rubin that seems to bother the mighty Barcelona? It needed a 60th minute penalty from David Villa to rescue a point after the Russian side took a lead in the first half. A full report is here courtesy of ESPN http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=307839&cc=5739 but in my opinion Rubin will still struggle to go through in a group which also has Copenhagen in and the Danish side were in top form tonight with a dominant win away in Greece against Panathinaikos.

Rubin Kazan 2-0 Dynamo Moscow

Alan Kasaev (right) scored both of Rubin's goals from midfield.

Dynamo Moscow's six game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end this evening despite a spirited performance against Rubin Kazan who's victory puts them into second place in the Russian Premier League.

This may prove to be ephemeral though. League leaders Zenit St. Petersburg also recorded a win this evening: their 10th on the trot in all competitions. In fact the last time the 2008 UEFA Cup winners lost was October 2009. The gap between first and second is now a vast seven points with 16 games left to play. With Luciano Spalletti's outfit going from strength to strength this is looking insurmountable and Rubin fan's must believe that the chances of defending their RPL title are slim.

The race for second is hotting up nicely though. Rubin's win put them above CSKA Moscow but the team from the capital have game in hand tomorrow evening. This game though now pits 3rd vs 4th as unfancied Spartak Nalchik have defied the experts and shot up the league by putting five past teams like Rostov.

A win for Spartak Nalchik would also put them in contention for a Champions League place only two points behind CSKA and four behind Rubin. A win for CSKA though would put them back in the driving seat in the race to chase down Zenit and create a substantial gap between Russia's top three clubs and the rest of the league.