UEFA om vs Zenit st petersbourg

ZoltaR · 09 Mar 2006, 07:55 AM

OM-Zenit: Take a lead to Russia
Fabien Barthez’s Marseille hosts Zenit Saint Petersburg in the first leg of the UEFA Cup round of 16. The Olympians will be looking to establish a lead to take on the road for the difficult trip to freezing Russia. Kick-off at 20:45.

UEFA Cup – Round of 16, first leg
Thursday 09/03 – 20:45 - Stade Vélodrome
Live on M6 and in Live text on OM.net
OMtv: Live pre-match build-up from 20:00 and post-match from 22:35. Match replay from midnight.

Of course it’ll have to wait until Thursday night to see with more clarity but OM’s double header does bare more than a passing resemblance to the that with the Ukrainian side Dniepropetrovsk in February-March 2004.
The equation displays similar variables and unknown quantities. A return match away from home in difficult climactic conditions, a match against unknown eastern Europeans and an opposition team whose league hasn’t even begun, but who did eliminate Rosenborg two weeks ago.

If the similarities come to fruition, Marseille should be careful, patient and string. Because nobody, and certainly not José Anigo, has forgotten the difficulties OM faced in eliminating Dnipro. A Drogba penalty gave OM a slender 1-0 lead from the first match which they had to defend to the very end away, 0-0.
Fabien Barthez, who made the trip to the Ukraine, also operated by analogy: “I don’t the Zenit players, but I know Russian football. They have skilful and quick players, young players, but they have experience. They are generally very mature and very disciplined,” he said on Wednesday.

In his brief, Jean Fernandez focused on the two attackers: Kerzhakov and Arshavin have already scored five and four goals respectively in this UEFA Cup.

Just a few days after playing PSG, it’s a new OM that returns to the Stade Vélodrome. “Paris is already behind us. The future starts on Thursday. Then Sunday and the rest,” summed up Barthez.
Apart from a late surprise, the starting XI will be 100% different from the one at the PArc des Princes. It could provide a certain physical freshness not to be overlooked in this charged winter calendar. All the more important when the opposition have only just returned from their own winter break…

Discipline
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (SPA)
Suspended: Cana
Suspended Zenit: Gorshkov

Zenit
Players to watch: Kerzhakov, Arshavin
Absent: Contofalsky and Mares
Last result: Zenit 2-1 Rosenborg

----------------BARTHEZ---------------

FERREIRA - BEYE - DEHU - MEITE - TAIWO

ORUMA - LAMOUCHI (or DELFIM) - NASRI

-------------RIBERY - NIANG------------

Substitutes: Carrasso, Andre Luis, Deruda, Cantareil, Delfim (or Lamouchi), Civelli, Gimenez

Absent: Maoulida, Pagis (Cup-tied) Cana (suspended), Cesar, Bonnissel, Quesnel

ZoltaR · 09 Mar 2006, 07:58 AM

H. Beye: “We’re ready for Europe”
The Parisian affair is closed. One of the inspirations behind the victory over Bolton with an assist for the second goal, Habib Beye and Co are back in European action this Thursday.

Is everyone back focused on the UEFA Cup now?
Yes, that’s right. It’s in two days so we’re preparing to have a good game. We have to play particularly well because we’re hosting this first game. We’re ready for Europe and the different atmosphere. And we have to prove on Thursday night.

How are you feeling physically?
I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not to have not played against Paris. But overall I think feeling pretty good. We’ve prepared well all week and although we’re hosting the first match, we have the quality to cause them some problems. That’s what we’re going to try and do.

What do you know about this team?
For the moment we haven’t had our video session but we know that they’re a team that could easily have finished top of their group. Last round they beat Rosenborg and they’re regulars in the Champions League…
St Petersbourg have two strikers that are in the Russian national team. So I think this team deserves to have gotten this far. It’s a quality squad.
We’ll have to be careful, like we were against Bolton. It will be a carbon copy. A battle for the big boys, as we say. It’s up to us to win.

ZoltaR · 09 Mar 2006, 07:59 AM

More about Zenit...
This Thursday, OM host Zenit St Petersburg. A Russian team that has impressed this season, winning in Athens and knocking out Rosenborg. Their only defeat of the UEFA Cup to date was against… Bolton in the group phase.

Zenit was back in action in the Russian league last Saturday with the winter break finally over (see below). OM’s future opponents beat FC Terek Chechenskaya Respublika, 2-0 in the Russian Cup last 16 first leg.
For that match, the St Petersburg club was not at full strength. Vlastimil Petrzela was without the services of Andrei Arshavin and captain Vladislav Radimov (suspended). He also decided to rest defenders Erik Hagen and Aleksandr Anyukov with an eye on the match against OM.
Above all, the Zenit coach, was left ruing the injury to his goalkeeper Kamil Contofalsky. He will not make the trip to Marseille and neither will the out of form defender Pavel Mares.
But of his opponents’ weapons, Jean Fernandez is most wary of the attacking potential: “They have two very quick forwards (Kerzhakov and Arshavin). They are two internationals and they will have to watched very carefully because they offer quick interplay up front which Bolton didn’t have.”

A long winter break
In Russia, the season runs from Spring until the end of Autumn due to the difficult weather conditions. The snow is everywhere. Last Tuesday the maximum temperature in Saint Petersburg was -6°c, the minimum recently had been between -12 and -14°c. Fortunately the return match has been brought forward to 19:00 (17:00 CET).
The 2005 season ended last November with Zenit ending up sixth. The new season starts on March 19.
During the winter break, Zenit came to France – just next to Marseille – to keep in form. They played several friendly matches, winning them all against Istres, Toulon and Fréjus. At the start of February, a visit to Vienna was capped off with a 3-0 win over Austria Vienna.

Just one loss... against Bolton
In the Russian championship, dominated recently by CSKA Moscow, Zenit is trying to to battle with the big guns. Thanks to its good results, the club coached by Vlastimil Petrzela, joined the UEFA Cup at the second preliminary round. They struggled past Swiss side Pashing before going on and beating AEK Athens in Greece, 0-1.
In the group stage, Zenit finished second behind Bolton with one defeat, 0-1 to the English.
In the last 32, the team then caused the upset of the round by dumping out Rosenborg. The aggregate score finished 4-1 leading many observers to suggest OM proceed with caution.

Zenit Football Club Saint Petersburg
Founded in 1925, under the name: Stalinets
Renamed Zenit in 1940.

Record
USSR Cup (1944)
Champions of USSR (1984)
Russian Cup (1999)
Russian League Cup (2003)

For more information: http://www.fc-zenit.ru/
UEFA Cup 2005-06
2nd round: Pashing 2-2 Zenit
2nd round: Zenit 1-1 Pashing
3rd round: Zenit 0-0 AEK Athens
3rd round: AEK Athens 0-1 Zenit
Group stage: Zenit 2-1 Guimares
Group stage: Bolton 1-0 Zenit
Group stage: Zenit 2-1 Seville
Group stage: Besiktas 1-1 Zenit
Last 16: Rosenborg 0-2 Zenit
Last 16: Zenit 2-1 Rosenborg

Kerzhakov, the dangerman who has already scored against the French.
Zenit has only played French opposition once: Lille last season. It was a UEFA Cup group match and Lille won 2-1. Aleksandr Kerzhakov, the star of the team (on the right of the photo) scored the Russian goal. Also note that the Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel was a member of the side that defeated Les Bleus last week at the Stade de France.

Goalkeepers
1 Kamil Contofalsky
16 Viacheslav Malafeev

Defenders
22 Aleksander Anukov
28 Jan Flachbart
14 Eric Bjurnstad Hagen
4 Ivica Krizanac
8 Pavel Mares
31 Jaroslav Nesvadba
3 Martin Skrtel
5 Milan Vjestica

Midfielders
27 Igor Denisov
88 Aleksander Gorshkov
13 Yun Min Hyun
2 Vladislav Radimov
9 Radek Sirl
6 Oleksandr Spivak
19 Velice Sumulikoski
7 Oleg Trifonov
43 Oleg Vlasov

Forwards
10 Andrey Arshavin
21 Dragan Chadikovsky
11 Alexander Kerzhakov
32 Robertas Poskus

Zenit · 09 Mar 2006, 10:09 AM

Good analysis.

One correction, Maresh is fit to play & should start at LB. Our #1 GK/Slovakian #1 Chontofalsky is still out, and Malafeev, the former Russian international will start in his place. Big loss for our side, as Chontiofalsky ha been in red-hot form lately.

My guess:

-----------------------Malafeev-----------------------------
Anyukhov------Hagen---------------Skrtel----------Maresh
-----------------------Gorshkov----------------------------
Denisov----------------Radimov--------------------Spivak
-----------------------Arshavin-----------------------------
----------------------A.Kerzhakov----------------------------

gaijin · 09 Mar 2006, 10:26 AM

I thought you were gonna sell Chonto? Waiting till the summer to cash in or till Loko snap him up?

Denisov will be the guy to watch imo. Having no Cana (*spit*) will hurt OM's chances of containing Arshavin I feel.

Zenit · 09 Mar 2006, 10:56 AM

I thought for sure Chontofalsky would be on the blocks, if they would have bagged that Belarusian #1 they were after there was a rumor that some Italian side was in negotiation for him. But, that having failed, I guess Petrzhela didn't feel that confident in hitching his wagon to a very uneven Malafeev with a very young & very unproven Mikhail Kerzhakov as his back-up, can't say I blame him.

This might be the last chance that Malafeev has to regain his status of at least co-#1, because I'm sure that Chonto will also be out for the 2nd leg. He flops, he's as good as gone & Chonto may stick around a bit longer than I originally thought. He shines like he did when he had to come in for the Boss at Euro 2K2, he and Chonto probably split the starts going into the RPL season and Chonto's chances of dearting during teh summer increase. Although the team sure doesn't need the money, and he seems to like being at the club.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Denisov will start today on the bench, which would be very unfortunate for us and very advantageous for OM.