MOSCOW (AP) A narrow escape from relegation one season, then a stunning title challenge the next. It's not just Leicester City playing that game.
Almost 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) east of the King Power stadium, provincial club FC Rostov is defying gravity at the top of the Russian Premier League despite crippling financial problems that have led some to suggest it could quite literally be `win or bust.'
Just as the rise of the underdogs in England this season has raised fears for the health of giants like Chelsea and Manchester United, so the success of Rostov, a club little known abroad, has prompted Russian pundits to suggest their top clubs could be stagnating ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.