Focus on Manchester- Zenit St Petersberg V Rangers

Ever since their semi final shoot-out victory over Fiorentina in Florence, all the talk from those connected to Rangers has been Manchester, Manchester, Manchester. Well, that and the fixture congestion, which I had my say about earlier on this blog.

However, the night that Gers fans, and especially the players, have been waiting for is almost upon them. Tonight they go head to head with former Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat’s Zenit side in the UEFA Cup final in what is easily Rangers’ biggest game in their recent history.

The chance is there for Walter Smith’s side to become the second Rangers team to win a European trophy but Zenit are a damn good side. Any team that destroys pre-tournament favourites Bayern Munich 5-1 over 2 legs has to be decent, despite the drawback of having Fernando Ricksen.

Advocaat has done a great job there. He’s led Zenit to their first ever Russian title and now could lead a Russian club to UEFA Cup glory for the 2nd time in 3 years, with CSKA Moscow having become the first Russian club to win a European trophy in 2005.

The game is one which will be tight. Zenit, like Rangers under Advocaat, like to play expansive football while Smith’s success has been built around a solid defence and a counter attacking system, using one striker.

So there will be key battles over the pitch tonight. And I believe that the big battle will be in midfield between the captains, Barry Ferguson and Anatolyi Tymoschuk. The duo will have an idea of each other’s game having played against each other for Scotland and Ukraine in the Euro 2008 qualification campaign.

Ferguson is key to Rangers, all their play goes through him. If he’s on song, they stand a good chance and he will be flanked by Kevin Thomson and Steven Davis as part of a midfield five. They will have to track the Zenit midfield and close them down quickly to prevent the Russians breaking quickly. And Tymoschuk will be key to that. A classy player, he has a terrific range of passing ability and if given room and time on the pitch, he will dictate the pace of the game for Zenit.

At the back for Smith, David Weir and Carlos Cuellar will have to continue their excellent partnership to prevent Zenit scoring, as losing the opening goal could prove critical. It would force Rangers to be more attacking, which could leave them exposed defensively.

And up front, Jean Claude Darchveville will have a big job. As Rangers lone front man, he will have to be able to gather the ball, hold it and wait for support when Rangers are counter-attacking. If Darcheville is given service, he has shown this season he can deliver on the big stage.

So, how do I think it’ll go? Undoubtedly, the presence of so many Rangers fans (no doubt millions, having borrowed the Celtic Seville calculator) will help inspire. And there is no doubt Rangers have been excellent in Europe this season, with their defensive tactics working well. But this is a one off game, so I think Rangers will find it much more difficult as there will be more emphasis on attack. And Zenit are a very good side who will attack Rangers from the outset.

Its a hard one to predict, so I won’t. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if it went all the way to extra time and penalties. Will it be a memorable night for Rangers, or heartbreak like their neighbours sufferred in Seville in 2003? We’ll see later on tonight.

Rangers V Zenit is live on STV and ITV 1 tonight from 7pm on STV and 7.30pm on ITV 1.