FC Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid CF MATCH PRESS KIT Petrovsky, St Petersburg Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 18.30CET Group H - Matchday 2
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FC Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid CF MATCH PRESS KIT Petrovsky, St Petersburg Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 18.30CET Group H - Matchday 2 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background Having started with a visit to 1996 victors Juventus in their first outing in the UEFA Champions League, FC Zenit St. Petersburg now take on nine-time European champions Real Madrid CF in Group H. The Russian titleholders began with a defeat on Matchday 1 while the Spanish giants recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory against another team making their debut in the competition, FC BATE Borisov, at the Santiago Bernabéu. • Zenit, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup holders, had given a good account of themselves in the Turin contest and only looked under threat from set-pieces. That route ultimately proved their undoing with Alessandro Del Piero scoring from a direct free-kick with 14 minutes remaining. • Dick Advocaat's team overcame Spanish opponents on their way to last season's success in the UEFA Cup, defeating Villarreal CF on away goals in the Round of 32 – a win set up by a 1-0 victory in the home leg. It was only their second win over visitors from that country having also beaten Sevilla FC in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. Their other three contests at the Petrovsky Stadium against Spanish opponents in UEFA competition – two of which were also against Sevilla – ended in draws. • In their triumphant UEFA Cup campaign Zenit eventually came good at home after stuttering in the group stage, drawing 1-1 with AZ Alkmaar and then 2-2 with 1. FC Nürnberg. In the four knockout ties they won three of the home legs without conceding a goal – 1-0 against Villarreal (Round of 32), 2-0 against Olympique de Marseille (Round of 16) and 4-0 against FC Bayern München in the semi-final. Pavel Pogrebnyak scored four of those and also contributed one of the home goals in the group games. In all he registered seven of Zenit's 16 goals in the knockout rounds. • Zenit's only defeat in a total of eight home games in the tournament came in the quarter-final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen when they lost 1-0 but as they had won the away leg 4-1 it had little bearing on their overall supremacy. Including the second qualifying round, Zenit won five of their home games, drawing two and losing one, scoring 16 goals and conceding four. • Madrid have not won away in the UEFA Champions League for seven games and last tasted success on their travels on 17 October 2006 when they beat FC Steaua Bucureşti 4-1. Since then they have had three draws and three defeats, including losses in the away leg in the first knockout rounds in the last two seasons, against AS Roma and Bayern. Last updated 28.09.2008 23:04:55CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 FC Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid CF Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 18.30 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Petrovsky, St Petersburg • This is Madrid's first visit to Russia since the 2002/03 second group stage and although they were triumphant on that occasion – winning 1-0 against FC Lokomotiv Moskva – it is unlikely they would have been disappointed not to have made a return trip sooner than this. The 2002/03 campaign was the third in a row, and the fourth time in five seasons, that Los Merengues had been drawn against Russian opponents in the first or second group stage, and a case of third time lucky because they had been defeated on both the previous occasions against Lokomotiv and FC Spartak Moskva. They also lost there in 1998/99, against Spartak again. Their first four appearances in Russia before that sequence resulted in three draws and a defeat. • Iker Casillas, Míchel Salgado, Raúl González and Guti all featured in Madrid's 2003 win in Moscow. • In the UEFA EURO 2008™ semi-final Andrei Arshavin, Konstantin Zyryanov and Aleksandr Anyukov started for Russia against a Spain side that included Casillas and Sergio Ramos in their starting lineup. • The other game in the group on Matchday 2 features FC BATE Borisov against Juventus. Match facts Zenit UEFA milestones • A goal in each half from Pavel Pogrebnyak and debutant Danny gave Zenit victory in the UEFA Super Cup against Manchester United FC in Monaco on 29 August, making them the first Russian side to claim the trophy. UEFA Champions League statistics • None Disciplinary information • Zenit have no players suspended or within a booking of a ban. Latest domestic information • Saturday 27 September: FC Lokomotiv Moskva 0-3 FC Zenit St. Petersburg (Fayzulin 18, Puygrenier 60, Dominguez 74) Zenit coach Dick Advocaat celebrated his 61st birthday by leading his side to an impressive win in the Russian capital. Viktor Fayzulin put the visitors in front, and second-half strikes from Sébastien Puygrenier and Alejandro Dominguez sealed a third league win in four matches. • Advocaat said: "We scored three beautiful goals and put in a high-quality performance. The fans paid tribute to me with orange balloons in the stands, and I want to tell them they are the best in the world. Vyacheslav Malafeev made a mistake in the last game, but that is no reason to put him on the bench as goalkeepers are the same as midfielders or strikers who also can make mistakes." • Advocaat made two changes to the starting lineup that lost 3-1 at home to PFC CSKA Moskva six days earlier, with Ivica Križanac and the suspended Andrei Arshavin replaced by Tomáš Hubočan and Fayzulin. • Puygrenier's goal was his first for the club since joining Zenit from French club AS Nancy-Lorraine in the summer. • Since claiming the UEFA Cup in May, Zenit have won only eight of their 16 Premier-Liga fixtures, losing five and drawing three. • Zenit have conceded eight goals in the final 15 minutes of league games this season – almost a third of their total of 28. They have scored twelve of their 40 goals in the period between the 16th and 30th minute. • Igor Denisov and Malafeev are the only Zenit players to have played every minute of all 22 league games so far. • Zenit made an unhappy return to their domestic campaign after Matchday 1 as CSKA secured a 3-1 victory in St Petersburg. Two goals from Alan Dzagoev and a Vágner Love penalty meant Pogrebnyak's fifth in five games was scant consolation for the home side. • Zenit bowed out of the Russian Cup on 6 August, going down 1-0 at second-tier side FC Sibir Novosibirsk in the fifth round. Last updated 28.09.2008 23:04:55CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 FC Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid CF Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 18.30 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Petrovsky, St Petersburg Injury news • Nicolas Lombaerts – out since April (knee) • Roman Shirokov – out since 13 September (calf) • Fatih Tekke – out since 24 August (thigh) • Roman Shirokov returned to team training on 28 September while Fatih Tekke is also available again. Summer transfers •In Danny (FC Dinamo Moskva) Sébastien Puygrenier (AS Nancy-Lorraine) •Out Erik Hagen (Vålerenga IF) • Zenit broke the Russian transfer record on 25 August by paying FC Dinamo Moskva €30m for Portugal midfielder Danny. Four days later, the new recruit enjoyed a debut to remember, scoring Zenit's second in the 2-1 UEFA Super Cup final victory. Miscellaneous • Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin invited Advocaat to visit him to wish the Zenit coach a happy birthday before the game against Lokomotiv. • Aleksandr Anyukov celebrated his 26th birthday on 28 September. Konstantin Zyryanov is 31 on 5 October. • Zenit's reserve pitch at the Petrovsky Stadium hosted the third Yury Morozov Memorial Youth Tournament between 16 and 21 September. Eight clubs from Russia, Finland, Germany, Kuwait, Moldova and Ukraine took part. • Advocaat was named an honorary citizen of St Petersburg in June at an official ceremony at the Mariinsky Palace. "For the first time in the history of St Petersburg, we are awarding the Honorary Citizen title to a citizen of another country – to Dick Advocaat, coach of FC Zenit," said city governor Valentina Matvienko. "This is the sign of gratitude from all citizens of St Petersburg for the UEFA Cup." Advocaat, in return, said: "I am proud to receive the title of Honorary Citizen of a great city. But my success belongs to the whole team." • On 4 July, Anatoliy Tymoschuk was awarded the title of Distinguished Person of Sport of Ukraine, in recognition of his role in Zenit's UEFA Cup triumph. Tymoschuk was granted the title by Executive Order of Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. • Denisov became a father to a son a day before the Lokomotiv game, a week after Zyryanov had celebrated his own new addition to the family, a boy called Lev. Real Madrid UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • None Disciplinary information • Rubén de la Red and Pepe are both available after serving one-match bans against BATE. Latest domestic information • Saturday 27 September: Real Betis Balompié 1-2 Real Madrid CF (Sergio García 54; Heinze 19, Van Nistelrooy 90) Madrid left it late to record only their 16th win in 46 visits to Betis despite taking the lead when Gabriel Heinze headed in Rafael van der Vaart's free-kick.