Lacina Traore believes that one of the three Russian Premier League club will challenge for the European trophy and has talked about a chance to join Juventus FC
Anzhi Makhachkala, Zenit St. Petersburg and Rubin Kazan managed to reach the round-of-16 of the UEFA Europa League this season.
The Dagestani club progressed to the group stages of the competition after defeating http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AZ-c38571 Alkmaar 6-0 on aggregate and were lucky enough to secure a place in the round-of-32 despite being handed a tough group.
Guus Hiddink’s men demonstrated quality football throughout the tournament and went on to defeat http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hannover-96-c39492 4-2 on aggregate. The Russian outfit now faces an uphill battle to win against English Premier League club, Newcastle
United, in the pre quarter-finals.
Zenit, on the other hand, secured an automatic qualification into the competition after claiming third spot on their respective UEFA Champions League’s group table.
Though the St. Petersburg club disappointed their fans after their bitter elimination from the Champions League, they responded well in the Europa League after winning against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 FC (3-3) on an away goal rule.
Luciano Spalletti’s men will now play against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Basel-c39079 in the round-of-16 of the European tournament.
Last but not the least, Rubin shocked the world after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate. Though the Volzhane were least favourites to go through, they silenced their critics after defeating the defending Europa League
champions.
The Kazan-based club will now play against La Liga outfit, Levante UD, in the European competition.
Lacina Traore has appreciated the performance of all three clubs in the coveted competition and has expected each one of them to step up and challenge for the European trophy.
“I am not surprised by the results of all the Russian teams: Anzhi, Zenit and Rubin. The level of the Russian championship is very high. I think each of them is capable of achieving good results in the Europa League.” The former
Kuban Krasnodar man was quoted as saying.
The 22-year-old Ivorian striker went on to reveal that he denied a chance to join Juventus FC in order to join the Makhachkala-based club.
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