The 2020 Parimatch Premier Cup, an off-season winter tournament, held in Doha started at the weekend. The opening ceremony was attended by students from the local Aspire Academy.

Ahead of the opening game, the coaches of all the teams taking part discussed the tournament at a press conference . Lokomotiv's coach Yuri Semin praised Doha, for its perfect training conditions which he said made for an excellent environment for his team. Savo Milošević, the coach of Partizan Belgrade, who are new competitors at this tournament, expressed excitement for his team and the next 10 days they will spend in Doha.

Valery Karpin, head coach of Rostov, said he looks forward to the games against great opponents, while Domenico Tedesco, Spartak's coach reminisced about bringing the youth team to Doha eight years ago.

The Parimatch Premier Cup kicked off on Saturday with a match between Lokomotiv Moscow and Partizan Belgrade. Lokomotiv lost to the Serbian champions in a penalty shootout. Both teams made a strong start with many opportunities in the first half.

The Portuguese forward Eder scored the first goal, but three minutes later Partizan scored an equalizer thanks to former CSKA midfielder Zoran Tošić's.

The score remained 1:1 at the full 90 minutes, and therefore the game went to a penalty shootout.

The Partizan team scored all their penalties, while the Lokomotiv only scored two, by players Joao Mario and Eder, with misses from Roman Tugarev and Maya Rybus.

Partizan secured two points from this game with Lokomotiv earning one.

Lokomotiv – Partizan – 1:1 (Penalties 2:4)

Goals: 1:0 – Eder (30), 1:1 – Zoran Tošić (33)