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UEFA Cup Preview: Zenit St Petersburg v AEK Athens [Fri Sep 16th, 2005]
For AEK Athens, last season’s game against Zenit for the group stage of the UEFA Cup was one of their worst ever in European competitions. Then even though AEK had opened the scoring, they were on the receiving end of a shameful 5-1 defeat away in St. Petersburg.
So now for the first leg of the UEFA Cup first round, apart from the qualification, Fernando Santo’s side will have one other motive. Revenge.
But this is not an easy task. The Russian league is almost at its end and as a result Zenit, who are among the top-placed teams, could not be in better shape.
AEK will look for a positive result to give them the advantage for the second leg in Athens, while Zenit want a win with as many goals as possible.
In the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, Zenit overcame Austrian club Pasching thanks to a 2-2 away draw, as the first match in Russia ended 1-1.
During the summer transfer period, AEK were interested in Zenit’s goalkeeper Kamil Kontfalsky.
PROBABLE STARTING XIs
Zenit: Kontfalsky, Flahbart, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica, Ankiov, Spivak, Radimov, Gorskov, Arsavin, Kersakov
AEK: Sorentino, Moras, Alexopoulos, Tsirilo, Kontis, Malbassa, Katsouranis, Ivic, Caesar, Veglisky, Lymperopoulos
Referee: Tommy Skjerven (NOR), Petronsky Stadium, 19:00 (local time)
Michael Paterakis
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