Los Anchovies welcome the Russian Premier League outfit to La Rosaleda to mark their historic first Champions League group stage fixture.
The first round of 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage puts once cash rich, Malaga, against current heavy spenders, Zenit St Petersburg. Both Manuel Pellegrini and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luciano-c22574 Spalletti would be gunning for the fixture, as they look to embark on their
European adventures.
Malaga
Los Anchovies underwent a supper of upheaval after their impressive 2011/12 La Liga campaign. The Andalusian side were made to part company with key stars, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Santi-Cazorla-c32505 and Salomon Rondon, whilst only reinforcing their squad after ensuring Champions League
group stage participation.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Oguchi-Onyewu-c28332 to bolster his ranks after losing out on a crunch of first team regulars. Among the four additions, Saviola took the spotlight with his debut performance against Levante,
scoring one goal and laying down the assist for another as the coastal club registered a 3-1 victory.
Malaga have not looked back since then and have registered an impressive return of form in Spanish top flight football. La Rosaleda based entity are 2nd in La Liga points table with three victories and one draw against their name. Pellegrini’s
charges are two points behind leaders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 and have a similar lead over the trailing pack of Mallorca and Sevilla.
Zenit St Petersburg
The Petrovsky Stadium based outfit stirred the transfer window with their late approach for Hulk and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Axel-Witsel-c7029. Luciano Spalletti got his men in record shattering deals to bolster their attack on Russian Premier League standings.
The Sine-Belo-Golubye are a team to reckon with a handsome goal difference. Zenit boast off a positive 11 GD, and are currently 4th in Russian Premier League standings. They are three points adrift of leaders Terek Grozny, who defeated them in
their most recent match at the Petrovsky Stadium to claim pole position on the podium.
Players to watch
Hulk - Zenit St Petersburg
Despite the fact that the Brazilian has yet to get going in his new residence, he has a deadly reputation for scoring goals. He was the driving force in FC Porto’s title challenges in recent campaigns, hitting the back of the net 78 times from 168 appearances,
with an enviable 56 assists to go along. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hulk-c16436 cannot be discounted out from the fixture with his ability to make a difference from his wide array of passing abilities and, devastating shots from both inside and outside the box.
Javier Saviola – Malaga
The pint sized attacker has a wealth of experience on his back after playing on the books of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/River-Plate-c40368, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Monaco and Benfica. Saviola made an impressive debut for Malaga against Levante over the weekend, scoring one and laying
down the ball for Joaquin Sanchez’s goal. After being left out to dry on the bench at the Estadio da Luz, the 30-year-old is out with a point to prove and will be leading the lines for the Andalusian outfit.
Prediction
The match off between Malaga and Zenit St Petersburg is an interesting one. On one hand, the hosts do not have the wealth of UEFA Champions League experience on their side but are on a great run domestically. On the other hand, Zenit have experience and
quality individuals on their side but staggered recently, registering one win in three matches. Malaga should be able to nick this one at La Rosaleda with the home crowd ushering them on.
Predicted score-line: Malaga 2-1 Zenit St Petersburg.
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