Lokomotiv Moscow started the season as runners-up but their prospects hardly looked promising as key player and main star Alexey Miranchuk was finalising move to Atalanta.
Loko still had a decent start of the season and managed to cope pretty well without his star man in the first couple of moths of the season, getting wins against most of the lesser sides and staying compact in defence.
Yet, Marko Nikolic's men went into a collapse once the Champions League group stages kicked off as the squad could not handle the fixtures and some dire performances against the likes of Dinamo and Krasnodar, conceding five goals each, sent Loko spiralling down the table.
The Railwaymen remained a really loose side defensively for the rest of the year, while the attackers kept misfiring, and a late 3:2 defeat at Khimki in December seemed to spell the end for the manager.
However, Loko returned refreshed and ready to challenge after a long break and a 2:0 win over CSKA set the tone for the rest of the season. The team played more efficient, compact football after changing formation to 4-3-1-2 and the wins started rolling all of a sudden.
Loko indeed set a record of eight league wins in a row in the league and even entered the race for the Champions League after a sweet win over Spartak. Yet, it all came crashing down after a 6:1 loss at Zenit and at the end the team missed out on the second spot by the narrowest of margins.
Despite the disappointment at the end, it has been a pretty positive campaign for Loko and that brilliant run in 2021 gives a platform to build on.
