Date: Tuesday, February 25th Venue: Petrovsky Stadium Kick-Off: 17:00
Team News
Zenit are without Portuguese winger Danny and Argentine defender Cristian Ansaldi, as the duo are out with their respective injuries. Dortmund have Robert Lewandowski available after there was concern as he was substituted with a cold during the Germans 3-0 loss to Hamburg at the weekend. However, they are without midfielder Sven Bender who faces 10 weeks on the sidelines with an inflammation of the pubic joint.
Key Stats
Zenit somehow progressed to the quarter-finals with just six points in the group stage, with their only victory coming against Porto. The Russians currently lead their league but haven't played for months due to the winter break and are not scheduled for another league match until March 9th. Dortmund advanced to the knock-out stages after they topped the group of death which included Arsenal and Napoli, as the Germans pipped the Gunners to top spot in the last group match day. Last year's finalists currently sit in 3rd place in the Bundesliga, one point of Bayer Leverkusen and way off the leaders of the pack- Bayern Munich.
Zenit will be thankful to still be in the competition at this stage as they advanced through to the knock-out rounds after picking up just six points and one victory in their group campaign. They currently sit top of the Russian league but only just, with their season scheduled to resume in early March. The lack of competitive action for the hosts may prove decisive in this game. In contrast, Borussia Dortmund's domestic season looks to already be in tatters as they sit third place in the Bundesliga and way behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich- who have all but clinched their league title. Their last outing was a shock 3-0 defeat to relegation threatened Hamburg, where they conceded a 50-yard free-kick. Jurgen Klopp will be looking for a positive response and a healthy lead to take back to Germany. Prediction 0-2 source - bbc football
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
