Will Zenit Kazan rise to the challenge set by Zaksa?!
In a week where surprising results were more than anyone would’ve ever expected, Zenit Kazan, a team with six Champions League titles since 2008 (and five in the last decade), the most decorated club of this century in Europe’s premiere club competition is in great danger of crashing out after losing at home in the first leg to Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle.
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The task at hand for the Russian giants is not an easy one, with Zaksa being one of the most in form teams at the moment. After winning in Kazan Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kedzierzyn Koźle returned to the domestic competition in the Polish Plus Liga, starting the play-off phase, where on Sunday they defeated Ślepsk Suwałki 3: 1 securing 24th win out of 27 matches so far.
- Unlike the first encounter in Kazan, the match in Kedzierzyn Kozle will be held without the participation of the public, due to the restrictions in Poland related to COVID-19.
- As a player of Zenit, Nikola Grbić won the Russian championship in the 2013/14 season and took 4th place in the Champions League (final in Ankara), whose coach was and still is Vladimir Alekno.
- Zenit Kazan arrived in Poland on Monday and on Tuesday the squad from the far Russia had its first training before the Wednesday's clash with Group Azoty ZAKSA.
Sebastian Świderski“The most important thing is that for now all the players are healthy and we want to use the advantage of our own hall despite the lack of audience. We are guessing that the Russian team has been hugely teased during the first match and they will be determined to win here for 3 points. We, in turn, have a good memory of the tie against Kemerov, where we also won away and lost at home and having this in the back of our heads we cannot make the same mistake a second time”
president of ZAKSA:
