http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vyacheslav-Malafeev-c36502 believes Zenit St. Petersburg can win the UEFA Champions League group stage game against the Italian giants despite poor home form
There is little arguing the statement that the defending Russian Premier League champions, Zenit St. Petersburg, are struggling with their home form at the moment.
Luciano Spalletti’s men started this year’s campaign with a 2-0 defeat in the Russian Super Cup against Rubin Kazan at home before losing the home game against the same opponents in the league.
Moreover, the St. Petersburg club suffered a shocking 2-0 defeat against Terek Grozny at Petrovsky stadium prior to a pulsating 1-1 draw against Lokomotiv Moscow earlier last month.
Zenit goalkeeper, Vyacheslav Malafeev, has urged his side to improve their home form ahead of the UEFA Champions League group stage match against AC Milan, if they are to progress from the group stages of the European competition.
The Meshki will play their second group stage game after their 3-0 defeat in the opening match of the tournament against Malaga CF at Stadion Rosaleda. As things stand, they are at the bottom spot on their respective group table.
“In the Champions League, you need to avoid conceding goals. But I still believe that we can make it to the group stages because each subsequent round can bring any result, which immediately can change each team’s standings on
the group table.” The Russian Cup winner was quoted as saying.
Malafeev went on to admit that they are about to face a stern opposition, who has a sound reputation in Europe. He assured the fans of meeting their expectation after displaying quality football for the entire 90 minutes on the
pitch.
“It is clear that we have a difficult opponent. We are not in the best shape but we need to feel confident before the game of this stature. We have been struggling at home and I think this match will give us an opportunity to prove
out critics wrong.” He concluded.
Malafeev revealed that Zenit managed to qualify for the round-of-16 despite having a poor start to the European campaign last season. The St. Petersburg club started last year’s campaign with a 2-1 defeat against FC Apoel on the
away turf.
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