Zenit Saint Petersburg won the Europa League in 2007/08. Since then, they’ve qualified for the last 16 in the Champions League three times. Sergei Semak’s team, though, is a far cry from the ones which accomplished those achievements. The Sky Blues and CSKA Moscow were the dominant clubs in Russia for a long time, but not anymore. Squads like Spartak and Lokomotiv Moscow have won the Russian crown in the past two seasons, while Zenit has struggled to keep up. If that Europa League was the pick, the 4-0 loss to Dinamo Minsk was the low of this team’s European endeavours.
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Zenit St. Petersburg vs Dinamo Minsk Bet365 Odds
The return fixture, set to be played at 19:00 CET at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, will be the biggest challenge Zenit have ever faced. Overcoming a 4-0 deficit is not difficult, it’s nearly impossible. That is why the odds of Zenit winning are high (1.2), while the odds of them progressing to the next stage are very low (5.5).
Zenit St. Petersburg 1.2 (1/5)
Zenit St. Petersburg to qualify 5.5 (9/2)
Dinamo Minsk to qualify 1.14 (1/7)
Both teams to score 2.1 (11/10)
Prediction
Led by Branislav Ivanovic, Zenit’s defence was way below their standards in the first contest. While the Russians will certainly do everything to repair last week’s bad impression, Dinamo Minsk is a team on the rise. As such, they shouldn’t let such a gigantic advantage slip away.
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Team News
Sergey Gurenko has a full team at his disposal, while Semak is struggling to count on influential centre-back Emanuel Mammana and striker Alexandr Kokorin.
The winner of the Zenit Saint Petersburg vs. Dinamo Minsk matchup (Agg 0-4) will take on the winner of Hibernian vs. Molde (0-0).