Post by v/\v on May 14, 2008 12:42:27 GMT -5
Scottish giants Rangers and Russia's Zenit St Petersburg will battle it out for UEFA Cup glory at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14 in a final few would have predicted before the start of the tournament. Here we look at how the two contenders match up.
EUROPEAN PEDIGREE
Rangers' sole European success came in 1972 when they beat another Russian side, Dinamo Moscow, in the final of the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup.
They beat Rennes, this season's quarter-final opponents Sporting Lisbon, Torino and Bayern Munich before recording a 3-2 win in the final.
That victory was Rangers' third appearance in a Cup Winners' Cup final following their 4-1 aggregate defeat to Fiorentina in 1961 and 1-0 defeat to Bayern six years later.
Before this season though the Scottish side had not made it beyond the quarter-finals of a European competition since 1988 when they went down to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Steaua Bucharest.
Zenit are relative newcomers to the European scene, their previous best performance coming in 2006 when they made the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to eventual winners Sevilla.
Indeed, last season's domestic Russian crown was only their second ever league title, the first coming in the Soviet Super League in 1984.
STYLE
Rangers' progression to the final was down to grit, determination and, more than anything, a sheer refusal to go out of the competition.
They failed to score in the home legs against Panathinaikos, Sporting or semi-finalists Fiorentina, but produced textbook European away performances to advance against the odds.
Each time the Scots went into the second leg as underdogs and each time their backs-to-the-wall, never-say-die, counter-attacking displays did the business.
Walter Smith's side did not concede a single goal in any of their four legs in the quarter or semi-finals, keeping out the likes of golden boot contenders Adrian Mutu and Liedson.
If Rangers reached the final because of their defensive solidity, Zenit owe their place to attacking verve.
Since scrapping through their group, the Russian outfit have scored 14 times in the knock-out stages - Rangers have mustered just five goals in that time.
They came back from trailing 3-0 at one point to see off Marseille in the last 16 before really making Europe sit up and take notice with successive annihilations of German opposition.
They hit four past Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in the quarters and another four past newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayern in Russia in the semis.
MANAGERS
Walter Smith is as big a legend as they come at Ibrox having led the club to seven Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish Cups and four League Cups.
The 60-year-old brought to an end a seven-year stay in the hotseat when became manager of Everton in 1998.
He enjoyed a successful stint as Scotland coach, laying the foundations for a fine Euro 2008 qualification campaign, before the lure of a return to Rangers proved too strong to resist.
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat succeeded Smith at Ibrox when the left for Rangers and enjoyed a fruitful four years with the Scottish giants.
The Dutchman guided them to a domestic treble in his first season and also recruited compatriots like Frank de Boer and Arthur Numan as established internationals flocked to the club.
Spells as a national boss in charge of Holland, United Arab Emirates and South Korea followed before he was recruited by Zenit - a team he looks like turning from European also-rans to a continental force.
PLAYERS
Zenit will be missing the UEFA Cup's top scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak, who has 11 goals in the competition so far, through suspension, but his loss will hardly blunt the Russian's attack.
They boast Argentinian striker Alejandro Dominguez - Bayern's tormentor-in-chief who gave Germany international full-back Marcell Jansen a torrid time in the second leg of the semi-final - as well as Andrei Arshavin, whom England found so difficult to deal with in the European Championship qualifiers.
Ukrainian midfield enforcer Anatoly Tymoschuk was signed for a Russian transfer record 20 million euros last year and dictates the game in the middle of the park.
Rangers will be relying on defender Carlos Cuellar and midfield dynamo and inspirational skipper Barry Ferguson in Manchester.
Cuellar, the winner of both the Scottish Football Writers' and SPL Player of the Year awards in his debut season in Glasgow, was at the heart of those superb defensive displays, while Ferguson will look to impose his own game on Tymoschuk.
Forward Jean-Claude Darcheville, who made the breakthrough in Lisbon, will provide the goal threat.
Preview Source:Sporting Life.
So, anyone watching tonight, it's going to be a cracker, both teams are having historic seasons and i'm looking forward to this game.
Pulling for Rangers but believe Zenit will beat Rangers to win this one and then face Chelsea or United later this year in the Super Cup.
But as i said pulling for Rangers, c'mon you mighty Gers!
EUROPEAN PEDIGREE
Rangers' sole European success came in 1972 when they beat another Russian side, Dinamo Moscow, in the final of the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup.
They beat Rennes, this season's quarter-final opponents Sporting Lisbon, Torino and Bayern Munich before recording a 3-2 win in the final.
That victory was Rangers' third appearance in a Cup Winners' Cup final following their 4-1 aggregate defeat to Fiorentina in 1961 and 1-0 defeat to Bayern six years later.
Before this season though the Scottish side had not made it beyond the quarter-finals of a European competition since 1988 when they went down to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Steaua Bucharest.
Zenit are relative newcomers to the European scene, their previous best performance coming in 2006 when they made the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to eventual winners Sevilla.
Indeed, last season's domestic Russian crown was only their second ever league title, the first coming in the Soviet Super League in 1984.
STYLE
Rangers' progression to the final was down to grit, determination and, more than anything, a sheer refusal to go out of the competition.
They failed to score in the home legs against Panathinaikos, Sporting or semi-finalists Fiorentina, but produced textbook European away performances to advance against the odds.
Each time the Scots went into the second leg as underdogs and each time their backs-to-the-wall, never-say-die, counter-attacking displays did the business.
Walter Smith's side did not concede a single goal in any of their four legs in the quarter or semi-finals, keeping out the likes of golden boot contenders Adrian Mutu and Liedson.
If Rangers reached the final because of their defensive solidity, Zenit owe their place to attacking verve.
Since scrapping through their group, the Russian outfit have scored 14 times in the knock-out stages - Rangers have mustered just five goals in that time.
They came back from trailing 3-0 at one point to see off Marseille in the last 16 before really making Europe sit up and take notice with successive annihilations of German opposition.
They hit four past Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in the quarters and another four past newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayern in Russia in the semis.
MANAGERS
Walter Smith is as big a legend as they come at Ibrox having led the club to seven Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish Cups and four League Cups.
The 60-year-old brought to an end a seven-year stay in the hotseat when became manager of Everton in 1998.
He enjoyed a successful stint as Scotland coach, laying the foundations for a fine Euro 2008 qualification campaign, before the lure of a return to Rangers proved too strong to resist.
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat succeeded Smith at Ibrox when the left for Rangers and enjoyed a fruitful four years with the Scottish giants.
The Dutchman guided them to a domestic treble in his first season and also recruited compatriots like Frank de Boer and Arthur Numan as established internationals flocked to the club.
Spells as a national boss in charge of Holland, United Arab Emirates and South Korea followed before he was recruited by Zenit - a team he looks like turning from European also-rans to a continental force.
PLAYERS
Zenit will be missing the UEFA Cup's top scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak, who has 11 goals in the competition so far, through suspension, but his loss will hardly blunt the Russian's attack.
They boast Argentinian striker Alejandro Dominguez - Bayern's tormentor-in-chief who gave Germany international full-back Marcell Jansen a torrid time in the second leg of the semi-final - as well as Andrei Arshavin, whom England found so difficult to deal with in the European Championship qualifiers.
Ukrainian midfield enforcer Anatoly Tymoschuk was signed for a Russian transfer record 20 million euros last year and dictates the game in the middle of the park.
Rangers will be relying on defender Carlos Cuellar and midfield dynamo and inspirational skipper Barry Ferguson in Manchester.
Cuellar, the winner of both the Scottish Football Writers' and SPL Player of the Year awards in his debut season in Glasgow, was at the heart of those superb defensive displays, while Ferguson will look to impose his own game on Tymoschuk.
Forward Jean-Claude Darcheville, who made the breakthrough in Lisbon, will provide the goal threat.
Preview Source:Sporting Life.
So, anyone watching tonight, it's going to be a cracker, both teams are having historic seasons and i'm looking forward to this game.
Pulling for Rangers but believe Zenit will beat Rangers to win this one and then face Chelsea or United later this year in the Super Cup.
But as i said pulling for Rangers, c'mon you mighty Gers!
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