Only once in its history has the Russian league championship left Moscow, and that was over a decade ago when Alania Vladikavkaz surprised everyone by briefly ending the Muscovite clubs' stranglehold.

The time since has seen the top flight  controlled by Spartak, CSKA and Lokomotiv , but this dominant triumvirate have kicked off their bids for the 2007 crown well aware that a genuine threat to their monopoly has emerged.

It can be found in St Petersburg, where Zenit, backed by the considerable resources of Gazprom, the country's biggest company, led by Dick Advocaat and cheered on one of the most vibrant sets of supporters in eastern Europe, have high hopes of taking the country's ultimate prize.

Unprecedented outlay
When Gazprom purchased a majority stake in FC Zenit at the end of the 2005 campaign, a challenge to the Muscovite teams' dominance was issued.

However, under the guidance of Vlastimil Petrzela, the team performed inconsistently during the early stages of the following year's Premier League, which provoked a change at the helm. Dutchman Advocaat heeded the call, quickly inspiring an admirable turnaround in fortunes, but after clawing their way back into title contention, Zenit were unable to keep pace with the top two and ended up fourth in the 16-team division.

In order to bridge the gap, Zenit launched an unprecedented spending spree ahead of the 2007 season. Pavel Pogrebnyak and Alejandro Dominguez arrived from Tom Tomsk and Rubin Kazan respectively for a combined total of more than 13 million euros, and then the club  made Anatoliy Tymoschuk the costliest signing by a Russian top flight club , parting with over 15 million euros and rewarding the former Shakhtar Donetsk skipper with a handsome contract.

Inevitably, however, Zenit's exploits on the transfer front have prompted an immediate demand for success, and club president Sergei Fursenko is fully aware that anything less than first place will be deemed as an underachievement. "We have only one aim in the competition," he said, "and that is to win the title." 

Moscow duo make winning starts
Nevertheless, CSKA are  intent on successfully defending their title , and they underlined their credentials with a convincing 4-2 victory over runners-up Spartak in the Russian Super Cup earlier this month. The result extended CSKA's unbeaten run against their rivals to 15 games, preserving the psychological edge Valery Gazzaev's side have held over Spartak in recent seasons.

Nonetheless, Spartak will not have been too discouraged by defeat, given that they were forced into combat without last season's leading marksman, Roman Pavlyuchenko, who is expected to return from injury in good time for their back-to-back encounters with CSKA and Lokomotiv in May.

It was a stuttering start, coupled with a tendency to concede crucial, 11th-hour goals, that cost Spartak the title in 2006, and these deficiencies are something that coach Vladimir Fedotov endeavoured to eradicate during the close season. If their league curtain raiser is anything to go on, the one-time CSKA goal-getter's efforts have been successful. Away at arch-enemies Dinamo Moscow, it was the Meat who benefited from a late, deciding goal, Yegor Titov's 80th minute header claiming them their first opening round success since 2000.

CSKA also teed-off with a win, 3-1 over Rubin Kazan, and 2006 bronze-medallists Lokomotiv earned a point away at FC Kuban. Zenit, meanwhile, needed a last-gasp goal from another one of their big money recruits, Fatih Tekke, to rescue them a point at home to FC Saturn.

However, regardless of the St Petersburg's outfit's disappointing start to the season, the capital powers are fully aware that the competition is no longer likely to prove a one-city affair.