On 29 January, four RPL teams played friendly matches.

Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 FC Sochi

RPL teams met in Abu Dhabi, and the Railwaymen captured win with two second-half goals. 17-year-old Mikhail Schetinin, small brother to Rostov midfielder Kirill Schetinin, scored the first one, and eight minutes later 18-year-old Vadim Rakov made the scoresheet. This defeat was the first for Sochi during this break.

Dynamo Moscow 3-2 Borac Banja Luka

The Whites-Blues and third-placed team from Premier League of Bosnia & Herzegovina played two 60-minute halves in Turkey. Dynamo had been trailing since 24th minute but Konstantin Tyukavin and Nicolas Marichal brought the team on board. After Borac equalized, it took three minutes for Tyukavin to score his second in the game and fifth in all winter friendlies.

Pari NN 1-1 Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Nizhny Novgorod faced fourth-placed team from Bulgaria First League. Lokomotiv scored first after 19 minutes of play, and Pari NN made game tied after the half-time with Timur Suleymanov’s goal. Denis Glushakov, who has joined Nizhny as trialist, made an assist.

Next teams’ friendlies: Thursday 2 February – Lokomotiv vs Johor, Dynamo vs Arda; Friday 3 February – Krasnodar vs Sochi