The champions of Russia will lock horns with the champions
of Spain on Tuesday to get Matchweek Two of Europe's blue ribbon competition
underway in an earlier than usual kick-off.
Climbing To The Zenith
Zenit announced themselves in Russian football when they won their first
ever league crown in 2007. And it didn't take them long to herald their
arrival in the continent when they stormed past some of Europe's experienced
campaigners to lift the UEFA Cup earlier this year in May and then followed
that up by adding the UEFA Supercup to their trophy collection a month
ago.
What's even more impressive is that they are a side who are not afraid
to play attractive, attacking football to get results and achieve success.
It's an admirable approach for a team who, prior to their triumphs in
Europe, were still very much considered a minnow outside of their own
country.
Their coach, Dick Advocaat has instilled a typically Dutch methodology
to their game. Defend as one, attack as one, they play a brand of slick,
one-touch passing football but they also have the individual brilliance
who can single-handedly turn games around.
Zenit are the first Russian team without the word 'Moscow' attached to
their club name to play in the Champions League group stage. But the Sine-belo-golubye
appear slightly out of their depth as they find it difficult competing
in two major tournaments.
They are struggling domestically and they look in danger of missing out
on European football altogether next season. They currently lie in sixth
place in the Rosgosstrakh Russian Championship, a massive 14 points behind
runaway leaders, Rubin Kazan, seven away from the runners-up spot - which
would give them entry to the next Champions League preliminaries - and
two shy of the UEFA Cup qualification zone with just seven rounds to go.
Although they have a game in hand against most of their direct rivals,
the distractions of the Champions League would almost certainly cancel
out any advantage they may have. But last weekend's impressive 0-3 win
over Lokomotiv Moscow has given them the morale boost they have been looking
for to take into the clash against the nine-time European champions.
Two Shades Of White
There's no secret that Real Madrid are desperate to attain the Holy Grail
that is 'Number 10'. They have failed miserably in recent years despite
promise of success but many a fan and pundit believe this could be their
season.
One of the signs to back up that claim is that Los Blancos are finally
showing that they have two very different dimensions to their game: the
side that knows how to attack and play good football - like the one that
devoured Sporting Gijon 7-1 - and the side that is full of fighting spirit
and a never-say-die attitude, such as the gritty team that pinched a 1-2
win at Real Betis a few days ago.
The victory at the Ruiz de Lopera was their fifth win in succession in
all competitions this campaign and while the results continue to fall
their way nicely, they are also going from strength to strength performance-wise.
Recent games have demonstrated that coach, Bernd Schuster has mastered
the art of altering his tactics, strategy and formation based on the opponents
and the circumstances, unlike the one-track Madrid team over the last
five years or so that clung to the simple-minded philosophy of out-scoring
an opponent.
The Spanish giants will use current European champions, Manchester United
as a good case study to illustrate how a team needs to have a multi-faceted
game plan to achieve glory. Last season, the Red Devils hardly looked
convincing on their travels all competition long but they always did enough
to get their desired result.
And it's a good thing, too, that Schuster has taken the last few La Liga
outings to fine-tune the team's away game stratagem. The merengues have
not won on the road in this competition in almost two years. Their last
triumph was in October 2006 when they beat Steaua Bucharest 1-4 and ever
since then, they have drawn three and lost three.
Madrid do not have the best record against Russian opposition in Russia
either and they will need to implement and execute that game plan swiftly
and flawlessly if they are to snap their poor away form against a very
ambitious Zenit side.
FORM GUIDE
Zenit St. Petersburg
Sep 27 Lokomotiv Moscow 0-3 Zenit (ROSGOSSTRAKH)
Sep 21 Zenit 1-3 CSKA Moscow FC (ROSGOSSTRAKH)
Sep 17 Juventus 1-0 Zenit (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 13 Terek Groznyi 1-4 Zenit (ROSGOSSTRAKH)
Aug 29 Manchester Utd 1-2 Zenit (UEFA SUPER CUP)
Real Madrid
Sep 27 Real Betis 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijon (LA LIGA)
Sep 21 Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Sep 17 Real Madrid 2-0 BATE Borisov (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 14 Real Madrid 4-3 Numancia (LA LIGA)
TEAM NEWS
Zenit St. Petersburg
Coach Advocaat does not have any suspension issues to worry about and
he will also welcome back a few important figures. Midfielder Roman Shirokov
has recovered from a calf injury and returned to training at the weekend
while Turkish forward Fatih Tekke is also back in contention after shrugging
off a thigh ailment.
The pair could still be lacking in match fitness while Belgian defender
Nicolas Lombaerts is still sidelined with a long term knee problem.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-2-1): Malafeev - Anyukov, Krizanac, Puygrenier,
Siri - Zyryanov, Tymoschuk (c) Denisov - Danny, Arshavin - Pogrebnyak
Real Madrid
Pepe and Ruben de la Red were suspended for the opening game against BATE
due to sanctions carried over from last season but both will be available
again for selection. Fabio Cannavaro should also be reinstated to the
team after being rested at the weekend but midfield trio Wesley Sneijder,
Fernando Gago and Guti are all still out injured.
Schuster's biggest headache is to decide who between four key players
he has to drop to from the attacking trident. Raul could be the one to
take the sacrifice this time after starting the last four games.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas (c) - Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro,
Pepe, Heinze - Van der Vaart, Diarra, De la Red - Higuain, Van Nistelrooy,
Robben
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Zenit St. Petersburg
No prizes for guessing who the two big key players will be for Zenit.
Playmakers Andrei Arshavin and Danny, who will likely feed off the lone
striker, are two very dangerous and influential figures and they will
be relied on heavily to bring mayhem to the Real Madrid backline.
Real Madrid
The constant unsung hero Mahamadou Diarra will have the privilege of disrupting
the Arshavin-Danny combination. He will be helped by the versatile Ruben
de la Red but the youngster will also be in charge of bringing the ball
forward and conducting the team's attacking play from midfield. It's a
massive undertaking for the 23 year old.
PREDICTION
Zenit will know that teams who fight fire with fire against Madrid rarely
come out on top. But if they play a speedy counter-attacking style football,
which they are quite adept at, their rapid-fire passing could cause the
Spanish giants some problems. However, Los Blancos' newly rediscovered
efficiency infront of goal could give them the edge.
It promises to be an entertaining and intriguing battle right up until
the final whistle, especially considering how Zenit have a tendency to
concede goals in late stages of a game while Madrid have this knack of
coming from behind and leaving things late.
