FC Zenit St. Petersburg – FC BATE Borisov match preview

Petrovsky, St Petersburg
Tuesday 21 October 2008 – 18.30CET
Group H – Matchday 3

With his team having failed so far to transfer their attacking brand of football to the UEFA Champions League, coach Dick Advocaat is urging caution from FC Zenit St. Petersburg as they host Group H’s surprise package, FC BATE Borisov.
‘Very aggressive’
Zenit are still without a point in their debut campaign in Europe’s élite club competition after losing their opening two games, against Juventus and Real Madrid CF, and prop up the section after BATE got off the mark with an eye-catching 2-2 draw with the Italian giants last time out. “BATE are quick, very aggressive and have a lot of movement,” warned Advocaat. “It’s difficult to defend against sides like that and, though I don’t think they will be as open as they were against Juventus, we will have to be very sharp and focused.”
Winning ugly
Having struck twice in the first 23 minutes against the Bianconeri, BATE are clearly not averse to attacking from the off either, though Advocaat believes this could be to his team’s advantage. “They like to attack and create space so they can score. Hopefully, we will not play as attractively as we did in the first two games but win,” continued the Dutchman, who also allayed fears that his side were suffering from burnout. Zenit were held to a 2-2 draw at FC Spartak Nalchik at the weekend after conceding three minutes from time, but Advocaat insists the Petrovsky Stadium will witness “a different Zenit from the one that played last Saturday”.
Injury-free
He may mean that in the literal sense as Kim Dong Jin and Viktor Fayzulin are knocking on the door of the first team, and Advocaat has all but Nicolas Lombaerts at his disposal. BATE counterpart Viktor Goncharenko is similarly blessed, with Aleksandr Ermakovich his only absentee, and the Borisov side arrive in Donetsk in high spirits after taking another step towards the Belarussian title on Friday. A goalless draw away to nearest rivals FC MTZ-RIPO Minsk leaves the Vysshaya Liga leaders needing just six points from their five remaining matches to reclaim the crown.
Different expectations
If Goncharenko is taking nothing for granted, however, BATE’s opponents will be doing likewise in the wake of their draw with Juve. “Before the group stage, everybody was certain we would get nothing from our six games but that has all changed since Juventus,” said the coach, who welcomes defender Anri Khagush back from suspension. “People are no longer asking us if we will be satisfied with conceding only two or three goals. But in any case our aim in the Champions League hasn’t changed – we want to gain experience.”
Pellegrini protégé
Goncharenko has certainly come a long way since spending time shadowing Manuel Pellegrini at Villarreal CF last season, a trip he says he “learned a lot from”. Villarreal refused to be daunted by some of Europe’s biggest names when they reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2005/06, and a lack of fear has also underpinned BATE’s progress this term. “We are not nervous,” said Goncharenko, turning his attention to Zenit. “I am just hopeful that both teams will play beautiful football.”

Zyryanov accepts new Zenit reality
The last 12 months have been pretty special for FC Zenit St. Petersburg. At the end of 2007 they clinched their first post-Soviet Russian title, and they went on to lift the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup this summer. However, midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov admits that they are finding life tough at the top.
Two losses
A 2-2 league draw at FC Spartak Nalchik on Saturday left Zenit stuck in fifth in the Russian Premier-Liga with six games left, leaving them as outsiders to earn a second UEFA Champions League campaign. They welcome FC BATE Borisov in Europe’s top club competition on Tuesday still waiting to secure their first Group H point, with defeats against Real Madrid CF and Juventus leaving them below Belarussian debutants BATE in the section. Despite claiming that Zenit “deserved draws … or even wins” in those games, Zyryanov knows Zenit learned a lesson about top-level European football on the opening matchdays.
Experience
“Juventus and Real showed us how to score goals,” Zyryanov told uefa.com. “They scored from what were not even half chances – Alessandro Del Piero from the free-kick and a Tomáš Hubo?an own goal. We, in turn, could not score even from clear opportunities. That is because of a lack of experience which also affects our confidence.” By contrast rank outsiders BATE held Juventus 2-2 last time out having been two up on 23 minutes before conceding twice prior to the interval. Zyryanov watched the opening stages of that game, and warned: “They are a disciplined young team and have more points than we do.” The Russian international added: “In the first half [Juventus] did not play well but it finished 2-2 and they then had 45 minutes more to score a winner but they could not despite huge efforts, so we will not underestimate our opponents.”
League setback
Zyryanov would like to see his side adopt a similar attitude in the Russian league, where they conceded a late equaliser on Saturday after coming from behind to lead at Nalchik. They are now six points off the top three with a game in hand. “We are not too good for the Russian Premier-Liga,” said Zyryanov, who joined Zenit in 2007 from FC Torpedo Moskva. “We showed a lack of concentration [against Nalchik] and let our opponents earn a draw. Some of my team-mates like Ivica Križanac, Radek Šírl and Danny only returned to Zenit from their national teams a day before the Nalchik game and could not even train with us. Even so, we played some quality football and could have scored a third.”
Advocaat hope
That optimistic note is indicative of Zyryanov’s support for Dick Advocaat, who is yet to sign a contract for 2009. “Our coach’s future does not affect the team,” the 31-year-old said. “We are not discussing it among ourselves. However, personally I want Advocaat to stay as I moved to Zenit when he was the coach and I like the football we play.”