By Zaven Aharonian
Zenit St Petersburg may not be the most fashionable club but the Russian champions made the rest of Europe take notice when they crushed German giants Bayern Munich 4-0 to reach the UEFA Cup final on Thursday. The Russian side play Rangers in the UEFA Cup final in Manchester, England, on May 14, while the English clubs will go the other way to contest the Champions League showpiece in the Russian capital a week later.
Zenit's attacking display against the former four-times European champions in Thursday's second leg semi-final at the Petrovsky stadium even impressed Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. "Any team that beats Bayern 4-0 must be the favorites (for the final)," the German said.
Zenit will have to do it without the services of their top striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, however., who scored twice against Bayern.
Zenit coach, Dick Advocaat is used to replacing team members after Zenit played the second leg against Bayern without three suspended players - Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin, Czech international Radek Sirl and Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen.
Rangers beat Fiorentina 4-2 on penalties on Thursday to face Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment