# 2003 in Russian football

2003 in Russian football saw the first title for PFC CSKA Moscow. Spartak Moscow, the Cup winners, had the worst league finish since 1976. The national team qualified for Euro 2004.

## National team

Russia national football team qualified for the Euro 2004. After finishing second to Switzerland in group 10, Russia overcame Wales in play-offs.
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score$^1$ | Competition | Russia scorers | Match report |
| 12 February 2003 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol (A) | Cyprus | 1–0 | FT | Dmitry Khokhlov | rsssf |
| 13 February 2003 | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol (N) | Romania | 4–2 | FT | Andrei Karyaka, Andrei Arshavin, Rolan Gusev, 1 own goal | rsssf |
| 29 March 2003 | Loro-Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (A) | Albania | 1–3 | ECQ | Andrei Karyaka | uefa |
| 30 April 2003 | Locomotive Stadium, Tbilisi (A) | Georgia | 0–1 | ECQ | | uefa |
| 7 June 2003 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel (A) | Switzerland | 2–2 | ECQ | Sergey Ignashevich (2) | uefa |
| 20 August 2003 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Israel | 1–2 | F | Sergei Semak | rsssf |
| 6 September 2003 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin (A) | Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | ECQ | Sergey Ignashevich | uefa |
| 10 September 2003 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Switzerland | 4–1 | ECQ | Dmitri Bulykin (3), Alexander Mostovoi | uefa |
| 11 October 2003 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Georgia | 3–1 | ECQ | Dmitri Bulykin, Egor Titov, Dmitri Sychev | uefa |
| 15 November 2003 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Wales | 0–0 | ECQP | | uefa |
| 19 November 2003 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (A) | Wales | 1–0 | ECQP | Vadim Evseev | uefa |
* Russia score given first

### Key

* H = Home match
* A = Away match
* N = Neutral ground
* F = Friendly
* FT = Friendly tournament
* ECQ = 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying, Group 10
* ECQP = 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying, play-off

## Leagues
### Premier League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow (C) | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 56 | 32 | +24 | 59 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 56 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | Rubin Kazan | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 53 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 52 | |
| 5 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 47 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
| 6 | Dynamo Moscow | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 46 | |
| 7 | Saturn | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 45 | |
| 8 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 43 | |
| 9 | Krylia Sovetov Samara | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 42 | |
| 10 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 36 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 11 | Rostov | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 34 | |
| 12 | Rotor Volgograd | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 32 | |
| 13 | Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 23 | 43 | −20 | 31 | |
| 14 | Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 39 | −14 | 29 | |
| 15 | Uralan Elista (R) | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 23 | 47 | −24 | 28 | Relegation to First Division |
| 16 | Chernomorets Novorossiysk (R) | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 24 | Relegation to First Division |

### First Division

The First Division was extended from 18 teams in 2005 to 22. Amkar and Kuban won the promotion on the dramatic final day of the season, leaving Terek and Tom in the First Division.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Amkar Perm (P) | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 87 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 2 | Kuban Krasnodar (P) | 42 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 75 | 38 | +37 | 86 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 3 | Tom Tomsk | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 55 | 23 | +32 | 85 | |
| 4 | Terek Grozny | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 56 | 21 | +35 | 85 | |
| 5 | Dynamo St. Petersburg (R) | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 77 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 6 | Anzhi Makhachkala | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 52 | 33 | +19 | 70 | |
| 7 | Baltika Kaliningrad | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 64 | |
| 8 | Metallurg Lipetsk | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 62 | |
| 9 | Sokol Saratov | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 62 | |
| 10 | SKA-Khabarovsk | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 60 | |
| 11 | Lokomotiv Chita | 42 | 19 | 0 | 23 | 55 | 66 | −11 | 57 | |
| 12 | Khimki | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 57 | |
| 13 | Metallurg-Kuzbass Novokuznetsk | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 54 | |
| 14 | Lisma-Mordovia Saransk | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 54 | 60 | −6 | 53 | |
| 15 | Spartak Nalchik | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 52 | |
| 16 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 50 | 60 | −10 | 51 | |
| 17 | SOYUZ-Gazprom Izhevsk | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 50 | |
| 18 | Fakel Voronezh (R) | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 49 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 19 | Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast (R) | 42 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 43 | 65 | −22 | 41 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 20 | Kristall Smolensk (R) | 42 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 40 | 72 | −32 | 35 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 21 | Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan (R) | 42 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 28 | 60 | −32 | 29 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 22 | Lada-Togliatti (R) | 42 | 5 | 3 | 34 | 27 | 86 | −59 | 18 | Relegation to Second Division |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Tom – Terek 2–1, Terek – Tom 0–1.
* ↑ Dynamo Saint Petersburg were expelled from the league due to financial irregularities
Aleksandr Panov of Dynamo SPb became the top goalscorer with 23 goals.

### Second Division

The Ural and Povolzhye zones of the Second Division were merged because of low number of clubs. The following clubs have earned promotion by winning tournaments in their respective zones:
* FC Arsenal Tula (West)
* FC Oryol (Centre)
* FC Dynamo Makhachkala (South)
* FC KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny (Ural-Povolzhye)
* FC Luch-Energia Vladivostok (East)

## Cups

In a newly introduced Russian Super Cup Lokomotiv overcame CSKA 4–3 on penalties after the match ended 1–1. The match was held at the newly reconstructed Lokomotiv Stadium.
The Russian Cup was won by Spartak Moscow, who beat Rostov in the final 1–0.

## UEFA club competitions
### 2002–03 UEFA Champions League

Lokomotiv Moscow participated in the second group stage of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League, where they finished fourth with just one point in a group which included A.C. Milan, Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund.

### 2003–04 UEFA Champions League

CSKA Moscow were unsuccessful in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, as they lost in the second qualifying round to FK Vardar 2–3 on aggregate.
Lokomotiv Moscow beat FC Shakhtar Donetsk to qualify for the group stage. They finished second in a group with Arsenal F.C., Internazionale Milano F.C., and FC Dynamo Kyiv. Lokomotiv were level on points with Inter but qualified for the knock-out rounds thanks to a 3–0 home win and away draw.

### 2003–04 UEFA Cup

Torpedo Moscow beat F.C. Domagnano 9–0 on aggregate in the qualifying round. In the first round, they needed a penalty shootout to overcome PFC CSKA Sofia. In the second round, Torpedo lost 1–2 on aggregate to Villarreal CF.
Spartak Moscow knocked out Esbjerg fB and Dinamo București in the first two rounds and qualified for the spring phase of the competition.