The most difficult away game
Our team is already in Krasnodar, where the players are preparing to face Lokomotiv-Kuban on Sunday. The game will be difficult both because of the opponent’s tough character and because of the unusual route to the city…

Plus two days
In terms of travel, the Krasnodar team is certainly not to be envied – they constantly have to fly away, getting to Stavropol or Sochi. On the other hand, the team is used to it. And now, on the eve of the meeting with CSKA, the Railwaymen are at home for a long time, where they beat MBA-MAI last Wednesday.
The Moscow team spends twice as much time on the away game in Krasnodar as usual. This time, the Red-Blues spent a day on the road – they got to Sheremetyevo on Friday morning, flew to Stavropol on the Aeroflot regular flight, and traveled to the hotel by bus for five hours. That's why the team spends an extra day away: Saturday was set aside for recovery and a full training session at the Basket Hall. Even two extra days - after the game they'll have to spend the night and travel a long way to Moscow.
"We're continuing the series of away trips with one of the toughest games of the season," says CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "Loko is a very tough and athletic team, and we hope that basketball fans will enjoy an interesting game."
Against a wide rotation
At the beginning of the season, Loko looked really strong, justifying the status of one of the tournament's favorites. And by the way, they suffered their first defeat from CSKA, with a minimal margin, 92-91 on the Megasport court. True, the Muscovites almost managed to lose "+8" in the last minute.
And yet, recently, after the break for the national teams, the Kuban team has been going through difficult days. The series of four away games turned out to be uneven. First, they beautifully and confidently dealt with UNICS, and then unexpectedly lost to Samara, which was left without foreign players. They barely beat Uralmash - and did not pull out the end of the game with Parma. Two "unnecessary" defeats dropped Andrey Vedischev's team down to the fourth position in the standings. The main figure of Krasnodar's attacks is guard Patrick Miller, who scores 15.3 points with an excellent percentage of shots, adding 5.3 assists. Apart from him, there is no particular sense in singling out anyone, since any of the large number of role players is ready to step up at a crucial moment. It is enough to note that 11 players of the main rotation spend more than 10 minutes on the court on average, and nine - more than 15.
Past matchups
Win-loss ratio: 72-16,
in Moscow: 39-6, in Rostov: 9-1, in Krasnodar: 23-9, on the neutral court (Berlin): 1-0.
Game of the 2024-25 season:
27-Oct-2024. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 92-91 (+1)
Brief dossier
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Russia
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, green, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President and head coach: Andrey Vedishchev
Website: www.lokobasket.com
Trophy case: Euroleague bronze winner (2016), EuroCup winner (2013), 2-times VTB United League runner-up (2013, 2023), BEKO PBL bronze winner (2011/12), Eurochallenge runner-up (2011), FIBA Europe Cup runner-up (2005), Russian Cup winner (2018)