rangers fans boosted by news that russian side may not be able to sell allocated tickets
Smith: Zenit are right up there with the best
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Rangers manager Walter Smith believes Uefa Cup final opponents Zenit St Petersburg will pose as many problems as any side the Light Blues have faced in Europe this season.
The Russian club, managed by former Ibrox coach Dick Advocaat, reached its first European final with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
Rangers’ Uefa Cup journey began after failing to come through their Champions League group which included Barcelona, Lyon and Stuttgart.
Smith’s side then battled past Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina on the way to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14.
Smith said: “When you look back over their campaign, you will see that Zenit have beaten some notable teams.
“In all probability the result against Bayern Munich was one of the results of the European season.
“To get a 1-1 draw in Munich and then win 4-0 at home against a strong side shows Zenit’s quality.
“If we take our European season, both in the Champions League and the Uefa Cup, we have played against teams of good quality.
“Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart and Werder Bremen were excellent. I would expect Zenit to be of the same standard as the teams we have played in that competition.
“So, we will have to play as well as we have done in any of the European games this season if we hope to win.”
Advocaat was at Ibrox on Wednesday night to see his former side beat Motherwell 1-0 to keep the pressure on Celtic at the top of the SPL.
Smith revealed his admiration for the man who took over from him at Ibrox in 1998 and admits they are both equally determined to win.
The former Scotland manager said: “Dick is an outstanding coach and he has showed that everywhere he has gone. I don’t need to speak to him, his own achievements speak for themselves.
“For someone to go to a foreign country, especially a country like Russia, must be very difficult but he has handled that extremely well.
“We had a good laugh after the Motherwell game talking about who wants to win the trophy more.
“I don’t think there is much between us on that, nor will there be much between our teams on the night.”
Rangers fans desperately searching for tickets for the final have been boosted by the news that the Russian club have only sold 8,650 tickets.
Both clubs had been allocated 13,000 tickets for the game at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Zenit claimed earlier in the week that they would sell all their allocation but a Zenit spokesman last night said: “We sold our first batch of 5,800. We received part two of our allocation which was 2,850 and sold them as well. But the price of air flights have increased, so we will only have around 9,000 fans in Manchester.”
Uefa has yet to confirm how spare tickets will be distributed.
Meanwhile, Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch is on course for a place in the Uefa Cup final squad. He has returned to training after a foot injury and could feature in tomorrow’s SPL match against Dundee United.
