Zenit St Petersburg v Young Boys - UEFA Europa League
Tonight, the Petrovski Stadium in Petersburg will see home side, Zenit St Petersburg, face Swiss side, Young Boys, in the second leg of UEFA Europa League round of 32 and the Swiss side will be looking to defend their 2-1 lead from the first leg of the two-legged
encounter.
While talking to the media, Young Boys, defender, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Scott-Sutter-c32676, said that his team is ready for the challenge and added that on their day, the Swiss side can beat any team in the world.
Scott Sutter and teammate, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Senad-Lulic-c32887, said that the team was confident in making it to the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Europa League. "Zenit are a great team and we saw last week the way they can play, and they will be at home this time", said the right-back
Sutter.
With a 2-1 lead from the 1st leg of the encounter, Young Boys do have a great chance of making it to the last 16 if they are able to hold on to this lead in the freezing conditions at Petersburg.
Last week, a goal by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Lombaerts-c27825 gave Zenit an early lead but 60 seconds later, Young Boys winger, Lulic, levelled the score.
However, there was more drama to come as substitute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Emmanuel-Mayuka-c12557, scored in injury time to give the home side a slender lead in the tie. The defeat ended Zenit’s 6-game unbeaten streak in Europe and the Russian champions would now be looking to take
full advantage of the freezing conditions on home soil.
Although Sutter is confident that his side will make progress, the Swiss side should take the fact into account that playing the game in temperatures below -12 C would be a massive hurdle and it may yet hamper Young Boys’ performances. The Swiss side has
never played under such harsh conditions and that alone can play a vital role in the outcome of the tie.
The likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Stuttgart have also tasted defeat at the hands of Young Boys and the side coached by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vladimir-c36322 Petkovic can take a lot of confidence after they beat Turkish giants, Fenerbahce, in the third qualifying round to make it to
the current tie (Vs Zenit).
According to Lulic, meeting the winners of the tie between Rubin Kazan and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Twente-c39233 is a fairly realistic ambition.
Team news
Zenit St Petersburg
Lombaerts scored Zenit’s only goal in Berne but he will miss the game through injury along with Bystrov, who received a red card in the final stages of the first leg last week.
Tomas Hubocan and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aleksandr-Bukharov-c4555 will also miss tonight’s encounter. This could be encouraging news for Young Boys but Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti has said that his side is still good enough to make it to the last 16.
Young Boys
Young Boys manager, Petkovic, will have a fully fit squad at his disposal and he will be looking to field the same side that beat Zenit at home last week. However, injury-time goal scorer from that tie Mayuka may get the nod after his goal gave the side
a great chance to defy the odds and make it to the last 16.
Prediction
Zenit have a lot to prove at home after they lost the away leg. However, the Russian champions have a great away goal advantage that they can build on.
On the other hand, Young Boys have been a pretty good side when they are on the attack and they have shown that going a goal down doesn’t affect their morale. A draw may be a fair result and Young Boys have a great chance of going through if they are able
to hold on to their lead.
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