Luciano Spalletti has warned the Russian Premier League club to underestimate the Swiss side in the UEFA Europa League, reminding their 2-1 win against Manchester United
Zenit St. Petersburg head coach, Luciano Spalletti, has urged his side to work harder for the upcoming UEFA Europa League round-of-16 against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Basel-c39079 after reminding them the Swiss club’s earlier accomplishments in the cup competition.
There is little arguing to the statement that Basel established a sound reputation in Europe, having claimed historic wins against big teams such as Manchester United and Bayern Munich respectively.
The Swiss side managed to claim all three points against the English Premier League club at home before settling for a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford during 2011-12 UEFA Champions League campaign.
Basel, meanwhile, shocked the world after defeating the Munich-based-club at home three months after defeating the Red devils in the same competition. However, they failed to progress to the next round following their 7-0 defeat
in the second-leg of the European clash.
Though the RotBlau managed to win the second and third qualifying round in the Champions League this season, they upset the audience after suffering a 1-3 defeat against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/CFR-Cluj-c38778 on aggregate.
Having automatically secured a place in the Europa League group stages, Basel defeated Football Club Dnipro 3-1 on aggregate to reach the round-of-16 where they will lock horns with the St. Petersburg club.
Spalletti admitted that the Russian outfit faces an uphill struggle to defeat the worthy opponents and urged his side to show nerves of steel in the corresponding nail-biting fixture.
“I do not remember that the first match settled down the outcome of the confrontation in the history of European competition. To qualify for the next round, we will need to show quality football on the field during the home and
away matches. All I can say that we are going to play against a team that defeated Manchester United".
We hope to get another win in the tournament but cannot call us a favorite at the moment.” The Italian tactician was quoted as saying.
Zenit will play the first leg at St. Jakob-Park before hosting the Swiss side at Petrovsky stadium later this month.
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