[The Jackal]

This one's scheduled for the 14th of May.

What do people think?

The top scorer in the tournament, Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, is suspended from this one because of a cheap yellow card. However, Andrei Arshavin returns from suspension along with Zenit's talented left-back, Radek Sirl. Zenit barely even made the last 32 of the Cup, but they have impressively knocked off Villarreal (2nd in Spain), Marseille (4th in France), Leverkusen, and Bayern (Bundesliga champs).

Zenit will be well-rested for this one, as the Russian Federation decided to cancel 3 league matches so that Zenit can completely focus on the Final. In contrast, Rangers will play something like 8 matches in 23 days leading up to the final. When you also consider that the Russian season runs on a winter calendar (March to November), you can see why this would upset fans of the Glasgow outfit.

I like Zenit by a scoreline of 3-1, but I expect a well-organized and disciplined Rangers team to show up.

 

[Mohamed]

Zenit will be well-rested for this one, as the Russian Federation decided to cancel 3 league matches so that Zenit can completely focus on the Final.

Is this for real? What a joke. Rangers should file an official complaint to UEFA.

 

[Kopite]

i want you answer these 2 questions ..

do you assure me guys that both sides will show an exciting game ?
or will it be closed as most cup games ?

 

[il_principe]

they canceled 3 games?
are you sure they weren't just postponed?
regardless, a scandalous decision if so.

even though i'm sympathizing with celtic in scotland and obviously want rangers to crash and burn... but that's out of order in terms of fair game.

 

[Dule]

Well the Scottish FA could do the same if they wanted.

 

[il_principe]

if it was one game the weekend before the final, okay, fair enough, but not 3.
it's like one guy doing a marathon only and the other one an iron man.

 

[Kopite]

if it was one game the weekend before the final, okay, fair enough, but not 3.
it's like one guy doing a marathon only and the other one an iron man.

lol . agreed !

any team rested only one week before the final would be enough , not 3 weeks .

it seems this competition is more important than UCL for some countries which can`t do big results in the UCL .. any try to do that in uefa cup :lala:

 

[Est1975]

Well all you complaining about the matches been cancelled.

Look at it this way.

3 weeks without match fitness ? It cant be good for them
Momentum is a wonderful thing. If Rangers win their games (perfectly possible) theyll be flying high.
A rested team isnt always a good one, complacency can come in.
They are now soley focusing on the final, this might not be good for their players to have 1 thing on their mind.

Im partial to abit of rugby. And in the Grand Final its amazing how the team with more rest, isnt in the match-mind-frame and end up losing to the team who has the massive fixture list.

 

[PMC]

lol . agreed !

any team rested only one week before the final would be enough , not 3 weeks .

it seems this competition is more important than UCL for some countries which can`t do big results in the UCL .. any try to do that in uefa cup :lala:

money makes the world go round :err:

 

[Est1975]

Funny.... I was always told Corruption makes the world go round.

 

[Crackedpleasures]

It may not be ethical, but the Russian FA is not breaking any rules. Filing a complaint is useless.

It is up to Rangers to decide for themselves if they would like to be rested as well. If so, go to the Scottish FA and ask to also postpone one or two games. If they think match fitness won't be decisive, then just play your games and ignore whatever happens in Russia.

I think Rangers playing on home turf (UK) can be more decisive than not having any games to be played the week before the final.

 

[Jeffrey]

Couldn't sleep.

Zenit not playing in the weeks proceeding the final could play into the hands of Rangers. One concern faced by Australian clubs in the Asian Champions League is that our domestic competition would of concluded some time since, so in between match days, they don't have so much to occupy their bodies with. It was apparent that Sydney would tire as matches progressed.

 

[GiannisAEK]

Funny.... I was always told Corruption makes the world go round.

Only in Greece.

 

[Paraiso]

Didn't CSKA Moscow do the same thing? Three weeks without football is a bit excessive. I believe Zenit has enough in them to cruise past Rangers. Don't really see why they need all that rest considering they haven't played much football this season.

 

[DAR]

doesn't make a difference really...zenit is going to pour in attacking, rangers will do the usual and just sit it out then they're going to either force it into extra time, penalties, or score one goal and sit it out for the rest of the game..

winners: rangers

 

[kleber]

Zenit will play a friendly game with Az Alkmaar on may 10!:dielaugh::musik:

 

[MaidenMadness]

stupid decision about postponing games. croatian clubs also have a habit of postponing league games before european games and i never liked that. in any case zenit should already be more rested than rangers cause for rangers season is at its end and they surely are more tired than zenit whose season has just begun in march.
therefore i don't think this was done to rest the player but with other motives - so their key players wouldn't get injured.

 

[The Jackal]

It is a controversial decision to postpone the matches for Zenit, and I can see why Rangers fans are very upset. The Russian FA essentially does what it wants, and Zenit decided that the rest would be more beneficial than the league matches. Even the chief boss of Rangers admitted that the Scottish FA should do the same thing.

Zenit is also near the bottom of their league table right now, so I think that is part of the reason why they didn't want to play top teams like CSKA and Lokomotiv.

But for those of you that haven't seen Zenit play, I can assure you that they are an exciting side.

Here are some names:
Andrei Arshavin: Arguably the most talented player in Russia right now.
Anatoliy Tymoschuk: One of the finest holding midfielders in the world.
Konstantin Zyrianov: Exciting midfielder who scored a hell of a goal against Bayern.
Alexandr Anyukov: Right fullback who is the "Russian Dani Alves." Of course this is an exaggeration, but he is a very offensive-minded guy who loves to push up the pitch and deliver dangerous crosses.

Should be a fun match, and I guarantee that Zenit is never a boring side to watch.

 

[The Jackal]

i want you answer these 2 questions ..

do you assure me guys that both sides will show an exciting game ?
or will it be closed as most cup games ?

1. Yes, I can assure that Zenit is always exciting.
2. No, Zenit never plays a closed game. In the 2nd leg of the Leverkusen Quarter-final tie, even though Zenit had a 4-1 lead (with the 4 goals being away goals), Zenit still managed to almost give me a heartattack with their suspect defense in the 2nd leg back in Russia.

Remember also that Dick Advocaat, Zenit's manager, used to manage Rangers. It is just nice to see two teams from different sides of Europe, rather than an all Spanish affair or English affair (like the CL this year).

 

[Angle_eyes]

It is a controversial decision to postpone the matches for Zenit, and I can see why Rangers fans are very upset.

We're not upset at all that the Russian authorities have postponed Zenit's matches. They're just abiding by what Zenit see as their best chance of winning the final. What we're upset about is that we're not being given any leeway at all because of the small-mindedness and bitterness that exists in Scottish football. Scottish teams don't exactly get to European finals very often (in case you hadn't noticed), so you'd think people would be behind Rangers, but that's not the case here.

I think Zenit are doing the wrong thing, but it's up to them. Advocaat said it was because he thought if they played league matches before the final that his players wouldn't be giving 100% in these matches to save themselves for the final, which would leave Zenit in a bad position in the league. That doesn't say very much about the professionalism of the reigning Russian champions to me, but that's none of our concern.

I just hope the best team wins, unless Rangers aren't the best team