In football, as in horology, precision is everything—and Marko Nikolic has wound up CSKA Moscow like a Swiss watch. Former skeptic Sergey Yuran, once doubtful about foreign coaches, now tips his hat to the Serbian tactician. "Before the winter break, I questioned whether an outsider could grasp the soul of Russian football," Yuran mused. "But Nikolic? He’s made the gears click into place. The spring campaign was a symphony."
The 2-0 victory over Pari NN wasn’t just three points—it was the final turn of a well-oiled key. CSKA’s 59-point haul secured third place, a bronze medal dangling from the neck of a team that once creaked under uncertainty. Krasnodar and Zenit may have taken gold and silver, but Nikolic’s men? They’ve built a machine.
Elsewhere, the world spun on its axis with less grace:
Meanwhile, politicians debated money transfers as anti-fraud shields, while the Duma swatted down rumors of contraceptive restrictions. And in a rare flicker of diplomacy, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners—1,000 souls traded like chess pieces.
The sun spat fire, "impulsive" as a rookie striker, while tennis’s Roland Garros whispered of dark horses—Medvedev and Rublev lurking in the clay’s shadows. And hockey? Carolina’s third straight humiliation, a -4 scoreline hanging like a bad omen.
But back to football: CSKA eyes PAOK’s Konstantelias, a €9 million bid poised like a gambit. Nikolic’s watch ticks on.
