Zenit welcomes Celtic

Zenit welcomes Celtic in a second leg from the 1/16-finals of the Europa League. The first game in Glasgow ended with a 1-0 win for the Scottish champions, which gives them an advantage before the second leg in Sankt Peterburg.

The first match at Celtic Park went just perfect for the home team. Twelve minutes before the end Callum McGregor scored a precious winning goal for Celtic, which gives them an important advantage before the second leg in Russia.

Zenit had some chances to score at Celtic Park, but Roberto Mancini’s players were not effective enough in attack.

Now for Zenit it will be a complicated game in Sankt Peterburg. They need to erase Celtic’ advantage from the first leg, but they also need to be careful of avoiding an away goal in their net. In other words, Zenit must be effective in attack, but also very solid in defense.

It’s always great when you witness a tactical duel between two great managers like Roberto Mancini and Brendan Rodgers. You can be sure that both of them will want to see their teams go through the next phase of the competition.

In the Russian Premier League Zenit are currently second, trailing on 8 points behind the leader Lokomotiv Moscow. In the beginning of the season Mancini’s team was flawless and everyone thought that Zenit would be the number one favourite for the title. But things changed.

Zenit’s biggest problem right now is the fact that the Russian league is currently on pause. This means that Zenit can’t get the so needed match practice to get in an optimal form.

Meanwhile in the Scottish Premiership Celtic are convincing leaders. Brendan Rodgers’ team is 9 points ahead of the 2nd Rangers, marching on towards another title. It’s going to be hard to stop them.