After the last two nights, shall we say, boring UEFA Champions League semi finals, I am hoping for fireworks in tonight's UEFA Cup equivalent.
Scottish side Glasgow Rangers host Italians Fiorentina at Ibrox while Russians, Zenit St Petersburg travel to the Allianz Arena in Germany to face the might of Bayern Munich.
I'll start in Scotland where Rangers go into their biggest European tie in 15 years, with injuries and suspensions taking their toll on the would be starting line up.
Back in 1993, Rangers went within inches of reaching their first European Cup Final, in what was an early edition of the UEFA Champions League. Marseille's (yes, they were done for match fixing) all star line up pipped them to the final, despite Rangers remaining unbeaten, and went on to beat AC Milan.
This time around Rangers are without their die hard Captain Barry Ferguson due to suspension. They will also be missing Kevin Thomson (suspended), Lee McCulloch, Chris Burke, Steven Naismith, Charlie Adam as well as inspirational keeper Alan McGregor, all through injury!
To say Rangers will have to dig deep, is an understatement!
Fiorentina must be favourites, but they're doing their best to get their excuses out early.
The pitch, Rangers fighting spirit and hard defenders have all come under the spotlight from Fiorentina, who claim they're still coming to Glasgow for a win.
It will be an exciting encounter and my heart as always, lies with Rangers.
In the nights other tie, Zenit St Petersburg who are on their best ever European run, again travel to Germany. The Russians demolished Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 (4-2 on aggregate) on their last visit and well I'm sure have ago at Bayern Munich tonight.
Bayern scraped past Getafe by the skin of their teeth in the last round, with a 119th minute goal by Luca Toni sending the Germans through on away goals after the tie ended 4-4 on agg.
I expect Bayern vs Zenit to be the tie of the round with Zenit coming out early, looking for that killer blow. We all know as the tie goes on, experience counts!
Just ask Getafe!
So sit back and enjoy the UEFA Cup breathing some life back into this big week of European football.
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3 months ago
I just have this feeling Zenit will win it. Don't ask me why, or indeed how, I just think they will. Either way looking forward to a game between Fiorentina and Rangers, it can't any worse than the champs league offerings this week.
from 3 months ago
They very well might I think. I definately think it will be better than the Champions League!
3 months ago
Having watched Rangers several times this season, I think its highly likely that their game won't be any better than the Champions League one. They show very little ambition when against decent opposition. Fair play to them for making it this far with a limited squad of average players though, with the exception of Cuellar who is a rock, and Ferguson who is a true leader.
Bayern v Zenit on the other hand, now that should be a cracker.
3 months ago
Well if the Champions League was boring this week, the Uefa Cup was way worse. The Rangers/Fiorentina game was so dire i decided to let my little sister watch something else.. But they have a knack of scoring away from home so they shouldn't be worried...
3 months ago
The Rangers game (by all accounts, I didn't watch more than 10 minutes of it myself) was exactly what I expected it to be, dull with very few chances. The second leg will be much the same unless Fiorentina score first and early, thus forcing Rangers to change tactics.
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