Free Thinking Dreamer

An anonymous commented on my previous post about UEFA Cup semi-finals where I predicted Fiorentina would meet Bayern in final. It wasn't a prediction actually, more an expectation.

I'm sure most people were surprised that Bayern could be heavily defeated (0-4) by Zenit St. Petersburg. Yes, Zenit is an inspirational team this season but the score 0-4, wow, this Russian club must be something! While in Firenze, a penalty defeat, thanks to Fabio Liverani and Christian Vieri, Fiorentina had from Glasgow Rangers was normal. However Glasgow has bigger name than Fiorentina.

I'll make some analysis about upcoming game at The City of Manchester Stadium on May 14 between Zenit St. Petersburg versus Glasgow Rangers.

Zenit St. Petersburg:

Speaking of Russian clubs, we will point to CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow. Not many people knew about Zenit but this season, this club had made better reaching than those 3.

It was coached by Dick Advocaat, a Dutch big coach. Russian national team also coached by another Dutchman, Gus Hiddink. Hiddink also quite successful in guiding Russia to Euro Cup and denying English chance to be there. Good physical condition, as many Russian players have, could support the pressure football Dutch coach brought on. Pressure football/total football needs good physic so the players can have high mobility and dynamic movement.

Zenit will play without their top scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak due to suspension. But anyway they beat Bayern without Andrei Arshavin, Radek Šírl and Fernando Ricksen, as well as Nicolas Lombaerts and Kim Dong Jin through injury. The captain Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Russin Footballer of The Year 2007 Konstantin Zyrianov are ready to play

Glasgow Rangers:

Along with Glasgow Celtics, Rangers is the most successful Scottish club. They play regularly in Champions League almost every year, and fail in first stage almost every year too.

Under guidance of Walter Smith, they have booked a space in UEFA Cup Final. Not as impressive as Zenit but still, they made it. Barry Ferguson, Steven Naismith, Kris Boyd and Carlos Cuéllar are well known enough in Great Britain. Rangers plays like many British clubs; fast and open. This club has experiences facing big clubs in Europe. Plus they have advantage in final location, British territory. Many supporters from Glasgow will surely travel to Manchester to support their beloved team.

However, Rangers still needs to play better than before. They only scored 4 in the last six matches, no away goal, while Zenit scored 12, six away goals. Despite of advantages Rangers have, I'll still favorite Zenit to win the trophy this year. It won't be an easy game for Zenit though, they will be conceded but they'll score more. 2-1 for Zenit.

It's just a forecast. It can be another bad forecast from me.

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