Samara — CSKA, 04 April 2026

No legends

The busy spring schedule left the red-blues with no time for regular training – each one is tied to the next game. This time, too, after their victory over Enisey, the team rested on Thursday, and on Friday, before leaving, they practiced with the full squad in Krylatskoye. Afterwards, they headed to Sheremetyevo Airport and flew to Samara for the Aeroflot regular flight.

“It is important for us to maintain good rhythm that we found in last couple of games,” CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis said. “We also have to show respect to our opponents and to ourselves and present the best performance possible.”

The coaching staff decided to send a dozen players on the road. Veterans Nikita Kurbanov and Semen Antonov were given the weekend off.

Without a scorer

Samara has practically no tournament goals left, only a theoretical chance to escape last place. Against this backdrop, personnel issues have worsened: the club sent its main center, Evgeny Minchenko, to Yekaterinburg and is currently without the league's leading scorer, Nikita Mikhailovsky (20.5 points), who is recovering from a back injury.

Against this backdrop, head coach Vladislav Konovalov is forced to prioritize his second option, veteran Mikhail Kulagin (14.9 points, 3.5 assists), on offense. Dmitry Cheburkin (12.1 points) and CSKA youth alumnus Danila Pokhodyaev (9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds) are also prominent.

Past matchups

Wins-losses in VTB League: 11-0

2025-26 VTB League regular season games:

30-Sep-2025. Samara – CSKA: 63-82 (+19)
12-Dec-2025. CSKA - Samara: 113-60 (+53)
13-Jan-2026. CSKA - Samara: 103-60 (+43)

Brief dossier

BC Samara

Founded: 1976
Colors: blue, white
Homecourt: Vladimir Vysotsky Palace of Sports (5,000)
CEO: Igor Bochkarev
Head coach: Vladislav Konovalov
Website: bcsamara.com
Trophy case: Russian League bronze winners (1996, 97), Superleague 1 champions (2019, 21), Russian Cup winners (2020, 22)