Luciano Spalletti believes Apoel FC deserved a draw against Zenit St. Petersburg - UCL news
Zenit St. Petersburg have failed to find consistency in the Champions League this season and their most recent group stage draw against Apoel FC at Petrovsky stadium has put their progression hopes in jeopardy.
The Italian tactician is of the opinion that the Cyprus-based club deserved a point, revealing that they played surprisingly well against the St. Petersburg club the entire match.
Though the draw has not affected Zenit's standings on the group table standings, competition between the group-members has certainly become tighter than ever.
Zenit will now head towards Estádio do Dragão
in the European competition before
taking on Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League. Spalletti believes that Zenit need to win the upcoming European encounter against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186.
“The team spent a good match against a strong opponent. But it should be noted that we did not lose the balance of attack and defence. We confronted a serious contender, but we have not allowed him to create. Although they have
scored almost in every champions League game, they failed to score against us.” The former AS http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 coach was quoted as saying.
In a match where there was no place left on the stands, Zenit fans tried to distract the Cypriot First Division club by exploding smoke bombs and firecrackers during the match. As a response, the match officials stopped the match
for a while and appealed the fans to show cultured behaviour.
Spalletti admitted that he was shocked to see such behaviour from their fans and highlighted that the fans need to be addressed as it is affecting their European reputation.
“I always say that when the fans are with us, we are stronger but if they are creating any problem during the game, they are creating problem for themselves.” The Italian national concluded.
The former Udinese coach believes that the Russian outfit is yet to reach their full potential in the ongoing European matches but is confident that Zenit have a chance to progress to the later stages of the Champions League.
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