Semak has supplied Russia with Eurovision. Zenit – in the Europa League playoffs – News from the UEFA Europa League – Football

Gosha Chernov
of the Saint PETERSBOURG

Before the match, a Danish reporter approached me and asked if Copenhagen had some chances to win, because the opponent is so strong. His argument: he studied the Zenit statistics this season and noticed that the inhabitants of St. Petersburg did not lose at all at home. No defeat blue-white-blue and in the autumn part of the Europa League.

I smiled. All the same the statistics are misleading: the Europeans do not watch the Zenit matches closely and do not know that their team is almost always winning at the starting speed. I tried to speak Danish in the language of advanced statistics, but, of course, they did not understand me.

But Zenit also constantly increases the record of the European League. At the main stages of the tournament blue-white-blue they never lost at all – after the meeting with Copenhagen, this series had 22 matches (and with the 25 matches of the UEFA Cup). If the Danish journalist knew it, he would faint.

Last season, at the European Cup matches, Zenit has always released strange protocols. In them the composition blue-white-blue was mixed, the badailants were defenders and the placement was chosen at random. As far as I know, Roberto Mancini himself tried to confuse his rivals and ordered them to draw crooked contours.

Sergei Semak, apparently, also has a similar point. Before the match against Rostov, he said on television that the team would play according to the 4-4-2 pattern, but that there were actually three defenders. But even after the game against Schalke, I asked the coach directly if he was going to make an arrangement at 3-5-2 goals. The answer was no.

On Thursday, miracles were reproduced in the minutes – the players were placed in the 4-3-3 pattern, which Zenit has not used for a long time. But in reality, there were still three defensemen and no change at the base, compared to Sunday's match.

Although Something all the same changed. If in the match against "Rostov", Mack, who had grown up in the right sidewalk, suddenly found himself on the left, now Semak changed them with Kuzyaev's flanks. This was also the case because on the right side of Copenhagen was Fast Skov technician Skov, the second leading scorer in the Danish championship. Mack has poor police custody and Kuzyaev is more disciplined than Slovak.

If the 3-5-2 ploy, Semak tried to saturate the defense and minimize the chances of marking the door of "Zenith", he succeeded. "Copenhagen" in the first period only once knocked at the door – so much so that I did not realize it until after studying the statistics during the break. "Zenit", however, has hardly ever appeared at the front of the door either. I remember only one imprecise blow to Erokhin with a header and Driussi's breakthrough just before the break – the defender hit the ball sub the feet. The rest – boredom, struggle and zero hits on the target for two dozen people.

Dziuba the whole match just fought with opponents. He was not allowed to get into the shock position, so the midfielders and Driussi had to go solo. Although Dzuba in the moment with a goal also played an important role – he kept the ball in his body after a counterattack, waited for the partners to connect, then did everything for him. It's funny that right wing Mack, who was sent back to his home sidewalk, scored from the left.

Immediately after the goal, Semak made a substitution, which he usually does when he has to save the match – he pulled Zabolotny into a couple for Dzyube. At the same time, Anton played intensely and did a lot of hard work. Quality: It was difficult for guests to break through the first line of pressure, including because of Zabolotny action.

In the middle of the second period, Zenit has traditionally shifted towards defense – the line of defense has decreased significantly and Mac and Kuzyaev have begun to act more compactly. A quarter of an hour before the arrival of Semak all the same Marchisio is released, but not in place of Ernani, who regularly loses his post, but instead of Erokhin. The Italian was greeted with applause and Semak also showed that there was no conflict. By the way, it was Marchisio "Zenit" who put it on the cover of the program – probably on purpose.

At the end of the match, the Petersburgers approached the gate. Moments later, the guests claimed a penalty after a fall from the penalty area and Zenit was saved by Lunev again. In general, the Danish journalist discovered what a typical victory looks like. blue-white-blue this season – with the minimum number of scoring opportunities and the maximum cost of nerves.