Despite CSKA Moscow’s recent miseries in the Russian Premier League, Russian international Sergei Ignashevich (pictured in a red shirt) has managed to retain the top spot in the FTBL ranking of Russian defenders, even though he has lost the leadership in our ranking of defenders league -wide to Rubin Kazan’s Spanish defender Cesar Navas. Can Ignashevich return the lost leadership?

The Russian international could return to the top as early as tonight. He trails Navas by just 6.7 points in the FTBL system, and after game 2 of the World Cup 2010 playoff against Slovenia tonight, that gap could shrink to 4.3 points as a game in which he dropped 2.4 rating points is dropped from his Last Five.

Any positive result tonight will do the trick for Ignashevich; a win or draw with less than 2 goals conceded. If Russia lose instead, then even a goal might not be enough.