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.

 

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).

 

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.

 

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

 

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:

 

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.

 

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

 

Only in Greece.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

No, we have some matches moved but it was mainly because of last rounds of Russian Cup being played at the same time. Only two games was moved to give more rest, two more was moved because there is no possibility to play two competetive games in two consecutive days.
Zenit moved 5 games and they are out from Russian Cup, so with UEFA Cup final they will have 15 matches from the beginning of the season, CSKA had 22.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

Easy win for Zenit

 

Cannot wait, already organized the short trip down. Heard that Zenit will take up there full allocation of tickets, which is good for Zenit but not so good for the thousands still screaming for tickets. Just saw one go on e-bay for £1300 :wth:

All the Byern fans who got them in the first UEFA lottery are selling them!

 

In a way it is stupid to award tickets before the two teams playing are even known. That opens the door to touts. In a way you're even better off if your favourite team loses in the semi-finals, then you can sell your ticket for sky-high prices on ebay IMO UEFA should distribute the tickets once the exact game is known, although it may be an issue regarding the visas (how long does it take to request a UK tourist visa for a Russian citizen? For EU citizens it can take up to 2 months to get a tourist visa for Russia, very short trips excluded)

 

Hmm, that's another good point you bring up PMC. Zenit have the cohesiveness and team chemistry in attack to cause problems for Rangers. Zenit play Russian teams that play anti-football like Rangers, so they know what it'll take to get goal scoring opportunities

 

Allan McGregor is out for the Final. Is the backup any good?

 

He's helped gers win two penalty shootouts so far. he's decent overall, but not great.

 

Thanks. :thmbup:

Maybe Zenit will test this guy with a few long-range efforts early in the match just to see how he handles the pressure.

 

Alexander deserves his chance in the final after doing ok since he's come in for McGregor, but he is a potential weak link. I know Malafeev can be dodgy too, so i've got a sneaking suspicion this could be decided by a goalkeeping error.

To answer what you said about Cuellar he has been absolutely immense this season. I don't want to jinx him for the remaining games of the season though. Just hope he keeps his incredible consistency up.

The fact that Advocaat managed Rangers won't have a bearing on the match. The only player of ours that he knows from his time here is Barry Ferguson, because it was Dick that first put him in the team and eventually made him captain.

Advocaat built a very good team that played some excellent football when he was here, but they never made that breakthrough in Europe. It's amazing to think that Smith has got us this far with far less money to spend and playing unattractively.

And yes, Diego is a very good player, but I rate Arshavin higher. I hope he proves me wrong in the final p

 

Alexander deserves his chance in the final after doing ok since he's come in for McGregor, but he is a potential weak link. I know Malafeev can be dodgy too, so i've got a sneaking suspicion this could be decided by a goalkeeping error.

To answer what you said about Cuellar he has been absolutely immense this season. I don't want to jinx him for the remaining games of the season though. Just hope he keeps his incredible consistency up.

The fact that Advocaat managed Rangers won't have a bearing on the match. The only player of ours that he knows from his time here is Barry Ferguson, because it was Dick that first put him in the team and eventually made him captain.

Advocaat built a very good team that played some excellent football when he was here, but they never made that breakthrough in Europe. It's amazing to think that Smith has got us this far with far less money to spend and playing unattractively.

Thanks for the info. :thmbup:

When Dick Advocaat took over Zenit in 2006, he actually tried to persuade Barry Ferguson to come to Zenit. He offered him his own private plane and everything, but Barry obviously turned him down, and had to endure a year of hell with Paul le Guen.

Malafeev had done really well for Zenit in the last few weeks, but he can be shaky at times, particularly in allowing rebounds. He is good at punching crosses and corners away, but sometimes long shots give him problems.

I think this match could certainly come down to one dumb mistake by either side. Zenit, in particular, are a club that can be prone to mental errors in their defense. So I hope they don't have any massive breakdowns in front of net.

 

Congrats to both clubs for making it all the way to the final :shades:

Just to state the obvious, may the best team win :thmbup:

 

Congrats to both clubs for making it all the way to the final :shades:

Coming from a big Celtic fan like yourself that means a lot :thumbsup:

 

In my opinion it only end how Anyukov Denisov and Arshavin perform.

Anyway Rangers play almost at home.......and a final is always a final.

 

You're picking Rangers to win this match. :googly:

I'm ashamed of you, kleber.:dielaugh:

 

Not many people are giving Rangers much of a chance. I have a feeling that this will be a close and chippy game, leaning towards Zenit winning though.

I like Furgeson from Rangers though, smart player.

 

Not many people are giving Rangers much of a chance. I have a feeling that this will be a close and chippy game, leaning towards Zenit winning though.

I agree that it may be close and chippy, but it seems like Rangers excel in those type of matches.

That's what I'm worried about.

 

I'm looking forward to this.

Porto-Celtic and CSKA-Sporting have been really good finals lately. As was last season's All Spanish final.

 

I'm putting my money on Zenit. They broke down Bayern eventhough they were outmatched on paper. I don't think Rangers will be able to cope with Zenit. Fiorentina were very predictable with their play and thus lost against Rangers. Zenit is the best tactical team I've seen for a while. This game is going to come down to tactics and discipline.

 

Dude i hope you are right, reading your post just made me want to bet $50USD tomorrow.

anybody has the bet lines for this game?