Football in Russia is crashing and isolation can only hasten its decline

Last Saturday, Zenit St Petersburg beat Arsenal Tula 3-0 to stretch their lead at the top of the Russian Premier League over Dynamo Moscow to five points. Dynamo, managed by the German Sandro Schwarz, needed a last-minute penalty to salvage a draw at home to Rostov, while in Nizhny Novgorod, the Italian coach Paolo Vanoli threw on Victor Moses at half-time as his Spartak Moscow side drew 1-1.

But this is another world now. Foreign involvement lingers, but these are games that feel as if they are happening in a different reality. There will almost certainly be no European football for Russian clubs next season. Spartak have been expelled from this season’s Europa League. Russia did not play their World Cup playoff against Poland on Thursday.

The Russian Football Union can take whatever action it wants at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, apply to host whatever tournaments, but it is largely academic given it seems unlikely that any but a handful of Uefa members would countenance games against Russian opponents even if the ban imposed on them were lifted.

When Russia invaded Ukraine there was an immediate exodus of foreign players and coaches. The German Markus Gisdol quit Lokomotiv Moscow after six months in charge. Daniel Farke hadn’t even overseen a game with Krasnodar before he felt compelled to resign. “We formed a great community with different nationalities in a very short time, who wanted to pursue sporting goals together – with joy and fun,” he said. “Unfortunately, the serious side of life has now caught up with us.”

While others remain – Zenit’s goals were scored by Brazilians, Malcom (two) and Yuri Alberto – slowly the serious side of life is catching up with everybody. A handful of players made awkward trips