Dinamo Moscow started the campaign with ambitions for challenging the top sides and had a leaner, fresher look about their squad after letting a number of players depart for pastures new, while bringing in promising players like Daniil Fomin and Nikola Moro.
It was a pretty good and assured start from the Blue and Whites and a sweet win over Zenit in late August even raised the hopes of a title push. However, things began to quickly unravel after a shock loss in the Europa League that denied them a spot in the group stages. Indeed, a loss at strugglers Khimki in October spelled the end for Kirill Novikov and German coach Sandro Schwarz took over.
He immediately installed new energy and dynamism in the side and was also not afraid to give youngsters a chance to shine. A 5:1 hammering of Lokomotiv Moscow was the highlight of his early weeks in charge but the lack of consistency remained an issue.
Dinamo returned after the winter break and immediately looked determine to battle for European spot while playing some vibrant football, led by youngsters Konstantin Tyukavin and Arsen Zakaryan.
An especially encouraging 3:2 win at Krasnodar, from being two goals down, really lifted the spirits, but then came the downer as two back-to-back losses to Khimki and Rubin in April eventually ended the teams's chances of getting into the top five.
Therefore, the season must be viewed as mostly a disappointment but Schwarz did some good work in instilling identity and playing style while also bringing a lot of new blood in.
