Zenit St Petersburg 2 Rangers 0
Zenit St Petersburg won there first ever European trophy when they beat Rangers in the Uefa cup final which was played at Old Trafford.They thoroughly deserved there win as they played the better football & looked like the more attacking team.Rangers didn’t look to good but i think being made to play that many games in the spl would give any opposition to Rangers the upper hand & the Scottish Fa need to look at this.
The game started with Rangers looking to hold Zenit as they had 2 holding midfielders & you could see from the off set they were going to defend.Zenit came out attacking & with Arshavin back from suspension he gave them there first chance.The Rangers midfield weren’t doing very well & Hemdani got caught in possession Arshavin fired in a shot but it hit the side netting & that was only after 4 minutes.But as Rangers were only letting Zenit get in long range shots it was Zenit who was also giving as good as they were getting.
With this happening Rangers were relying on counter attacking football while Zenit had a Anyukov volley & a Tymoschuk shot saved by there keeper Alexander.It was Ferguson who had Rangers first good chance Darcheville manged his way into the penalty box passed the ball to Ferguson but Radek made a excellent challenge to denie him a goal.Rangers were then playing better but when Steven Davis sent over a great cross only to see Whittaker miss his chance at the back post when he was unmarked they started to wonder.
Than Rangers had a scare when Zenit got to the by line & sent over a cross only for the football to strike Kirk Broadfoot in the penalty box & some of the Zenit player were up for a penalty but the ref said no & blew his whistle for half time with Zenit looking the more dangerous & Rangers wondering how can they win this game. Walter Smith Interview
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Fiorentina 0 Rangers 0 (0-0)Agg Rangers Win 4-2 Penalties
Rangers made there first European final since 1972 after this dramatic win over Fiorentina in a penalty shoot out after nearly 3 hours on football with ended goalless.Rangers made a good start to the football match & were a match for Fiorentina for the first few minutes & it took right until the 20th minute before Fiorentina really threaten Rangers goal.But Fiorentina started to take the game Rangers & put on lots of pressure & they had there best chance when Massimo Gobbi put in a cross into the box the Rangers Keeper Alexander then failed to collect the ball but Papac was on hand to quickly head the ball off the line.
Not really much happened for the rest of the first half as both defenses kept each other at bay apart from Marco Donadel for Fiorentina was subbed as he had got himself a injury & was replaced with Zdravko Kuzmanovic but it was stalemate at the break. Walter Smith
Zenit St Petersburg 4 Bayern Munich 0 (5-1)Agg
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Bayern Munich 1 Zenit St Petersburg 1
An Own goal by Bayern’s Lucio gave Zenit the upper hand in this semi final first leg & the away goal.Bayern will now have to score in Russia if they want to make the final in Manchester next month. Bayern made all the early possession & the running but couldn’t make any chances or any really clear cut.Bastian Schweinsteiger had bayern’s first good shot but it didn’t really test the keeper .Bayern then went one up in the 20th minute when ZeRoberto ran into the box with pace & was brought down by Fernando Ricksen which brought the ref to point to the spot Ricksen was booked for his high challenge which means he now misses the second leg.Ribery then stepped up to take the penalty which was a very poor taken one which the goalie Viatcheslav Malafeev saved but the rebound came straight back to Ribery who then put it into the net to score.Malafeev was then called upon a few more times in the first half when he had to save from a Ze Roberto free kick & then being very alert to keep out Martin Demichelis.Just before the break Oliver Kahn was called upon to save from Radek Shirl & then Igor Denisov who had his shot blocked . Read more
Rangers 0 Florentina 0
Rangers will be pleased with the result as they held italian side Florentina to a goalless draw & didn’t concede an away goal.Florentina dominated this football match with lots of possession & slick passing but really didn’t create any clear cut chances on goal which Rangers were able to cope with. In the early part of the first half Mutu & Kuzmanovic could only fire in shots from distance but they were straight at the Rangers keeper Alexander.Rangers were playing like the away side & could only counter attack when Jean-Claude Darcheville who was playing up front on his own accelerated down the left but his cross was only deflected to the Florentina keeper Frey.
La Viola was pressing the Rangers defence & making them work when Jorgensen forced a shot which Alexander had to save.Florentina was worried though about Darcheville as a couple of times be spinned & turned & could have broke free but was fouled instead.Mario Alberto Santana was cautioned for his last foul on Darcheville as it was more like a rugby league tackle than a football one with the Rangers man now getting frustrated with all the close marking he was getting.Florentina was now getting restless with getting nowhere & just before the half ended Mutu thought he could cheat when he tried to direct a cross with his hand but the ref decided not to book him strange.
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