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FC Zenit St. Petersburg v Sevilla FC PRESS KIT Petrovsky, St Petersburg Thursday, 6 April 2006 - 20:00 local time Quarter-finals - Matchday 13 FC Zenit St. Petersburg have more than a few obstacles to overcome if they are to keep their hopes alive in this season's UEFA Cup after suffering a 4-1 defeat at Sevilla FC in the first leg of their quarter-final. An away goal by Aleksandr Kerzhakov offers a glimmer of hope for Zenit, but they will be without three suspended players in the return game after finishing the first leg with only nine men. •On the 60th anniversary of their first and only Spanish league title win, Sevilla outclassed Zenit at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuan thanks to two goals by Javier Saviola and further strikes by José Luis Martí and Adriano Correia. Zenit's cause became even more desperate when Erik Hagen and Andrei Arshavin were sent off, meaning both will be absent in St. Petersburg along with Velice Sumulikoski who picked up his third booking of the campaign in the first encounter. •The winners of the tie are likely to come up against FC Schalke 04 in the semi-finals after the German side won the first leg of their tie 3-1 at PFC Levski Sofia on Thursday. •Sevilla and Zenit locked horns for the third time in two seasons when they met in the first leg. The Russian team picked up a win and a draw in the group stage of this campaign and last season's (when Julio Baptista - now with Real Madrid CF - cancelled out Arshavin's opener), although both were in the comfort of their Petrovsky stadium home. Sevilla defeated another Russian side, FC Lokomotiv Moskva, in the last 32. •A second-half strike from Jordi López gave the Spanish side the initiative against Lokomotiv in freezing conditions in the Russian capital and goals from Vicenzo Maresca and Antonio Puerta then saw them through in Spain. It was the continuation of an impressive UEFA Cup campaign in which they escaped a congested Group H as section winners. Saviola was in the goals as Sevilla defeated Beşiktaş JK and Vitória SC, while drawing with Bolton Wanderers FC and losing to Zenit. • Kerzhakov scored twice to help Zenit to a 2­1 home victory against Sevilla in November. The Russia striker set them on course for three points with an eleventh­ minute opener before sealing the success with his and Zenit's second two minutes from time. Saviola reduced the deficit deep into added time, but it proved too little, too late for the visitors. • It has been a solitary low point in a campaign of highs for Sevilla, and a 2­1 aggregate victory against LOSC Lille Métropole allowed the Andalusian outfit to overcome a first­ leg deficit and book their place in the last eight. Frédéric Kanouté converted Daniel's assured cross before the half­hour, and Luis Fabiano then completed the comeback with a crisp finish on the stroke of half­time to set up yet another meeting with Zenit. • The Russian side were also paired with French opposition in the last round, and Arshavin gave them a crucial first­leg advantage with a goal six minutes after half­time at uefa.com 1/17 FC Zenit St. Petersburg v Sevilla FC PRESS KIT the Stade Vélodrome home of Olympique de Marseille. Arshavin's attacking foil Kerzhakov then added another in the return, capitalising on a goalkeeping error, and although the visitors reduced the deficit a second goal proved elusive. • It was the continuation of a fine run for Zenit which has brought them post­Christmas UEFA club competition action for the first time in their history. Wins against Guimarães and Sevilla, and a point at Beşiktaş, secured second place in Group H, and the architects of much of their success ­ Kerzhakov and Arshavin ­ continued their fine goalscoring form against Rosenborg BK in the Round of 32, as the St. Petersburg outfit ran out 4­1 aggregate winners. • Before this season, Zenit's only previous encounter with Spanish opposition had come in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup final against RC Celta de Vigo. Celta took a 2­1 first­leg lead in Vigo, Juanfran scoring a last­minute winner after Zenit had opened the scoring through Aleksei Igonine and Russian international Valeri Karpin had responded for Celta. Zenit turned the tie on its head in the return fixture as a goal in each half from Gennadiy Popovich put the Russian team in front overall, but again Celta rallied late on as strikes in the final seven minutes from Karpin and Benni McCarthy gave them an aggregate triumph. • Sevilla, meanwhile, have also played one other Russian club ­ FC Torpedo Moskva in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup second round when they suffered a 4­3 aggregate defeat. Torpedo took control of the tie with a 3­1 home win in the first leg, which was increased in the tenth minute at Sevilla thanks to a Nikolai Savichev goal. The Spanish side tried to fight back and reduced the deficit with two goals, but the equaliser eluded them. Club facts: Zenit • FC Zenit St. Petersburg are involved in UEFA club competitions for the fifth time in the past seven seasons. Overall, they have featured in UEFA club competitions in nine separate seasons having made their first appearance as Zenit Leningrad in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup when representing the Soviet Union. • Their last involvement in UEFA club competitions came during the 2004/05 season in the UEFA Cup but they failed to advance from the group stage. They defeated AEK 5­1 at home with Aleksandr Kerzhakov scoring a hat­trick in their opening fixture, but then lost 2­1 away to LOSC Lille Métropole. They would then draw at home against Sevilla FC (1­1), who they will meet again this season, and away to TSV Alemannia Aachen (2­ 2), a result that ended their hopes of qualification to the knockout phase. • Zenit initially entered the 2004/05 UEFA Cup at the second qualifying round stage, but accounted for SV Pasching on away goals (3­3) before defeating FK Crvena Zvezda 6­1 on aggregate in the first round proper. • Their previous best performances in UEFA club competitions were two appearances in the second round of the 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup and 1989/90 UEFA Cup when the club was known as Zenit Leningrad. uefa.com 2/17 FC Zenit St. Petersburg v Sevilla FC PRESS KIT 2005/06 season • UEFA Cup qualifying: Zenit entered the competition having finished fourth in the Russian Premier­Liga last season. For the second season in succession, the Russian side began their UEFA Cup campaign in the second qualifying round stage as a qualifying berth in the UEFA Champions League continued to elude them. Meeting the same opponents for the second time in two years in the form of Austria's SV Pasching, the two sides repeated the scoreline of 12 months previous when the tie ended 3­3 overall. But once more Zenit advanced on away goals – this time following two draws. The Russian side drew 2­2 away with Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Andrei Arshavin on target. They were then held to a 1­1 draw at home with Oleksandr Spivak (11) on the mark from the penalty spot. • UEFA Cup first round: Zenit then drew familiar foes in the first round when paired with AEK Athens FC as the two sides met in last season's group stage. The tie was scoreless after the first leg in St. Petersburg before Zenit won 1­0 in Athens thanks to Arshavin's 89th­minute winner. • UEFA Cup group stage: An Olexandr Spivak (39) penalty and Arshavin's (54) second­half strike proved enough for Zenit to claim a 2­1 victory in their opening UEFA Cup group stage engagement against Portuguese side Vitória SC although midfielder Vladislav Radimov saw red five minutes from time. • But the Russian side then lost away to Bolton Wanderers FC on Matchday 2 as Kevin Nolan scored the only goal of the game at the Reebok stadium. The Bolton captain reacted quickest to a rebound in the 24th minute to slot the ball past Kamil Čontofalský in Zenit's goal. • On Matchday 3, Kerzhakov struck twice to give Zenit victory against Sevilla FC and put the Russian side on the brink of qualification for the knockout stage. The Russian international opened the scoring after 11 minutes and then doubled the home team's advantage in the 89th minute. There was still time for Javier Saviola (90+3) to pull a goal back, however, and only a fine save from Zenit goalkeeper Kamil Čontofalský prevented the Primera División side from scraping a point. • Zenit survived a first­half onslaught to earn a 1­1 draw in Istanbul against Beşiktaş JK on Matchday 4. The Russian side ­ playing their last match in the group stage ­ came under intense pressure before İbrahim Akın (25) gave Beşiktaş the lead midway through the first half, but Olexandr Gorshkov (30) soon equalised and a composed second­half display from Zenit ensured the points were shared. • Despite not competing on the final matchday, Zenit ended the group in second place, level on points with first­placed Sevilla after two wins and a draw from their four outings. Bolton also qualified with six points while Beşiktaş (five) and Guimarães (one) missed out. • UEFA Cup knockout stage: Zenit qualified for the last 16 thanks to a 4­1 aggregate defeat of Rosenborg BK, winning both legs in the process.

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