UEFA Cup : The Final

Bayern Munich's hopes of becoming the first German team to win three trophies in a single season lay in ruins Thursday after coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's team was routed, 4-0, by Russian champion Zenit St Petersburg in the semi finals of the UEFA Cup.

Zenit St Petersburg, coached by former Dutch national team coach Dick Advocaat, will play Rangers of Scotland in the May 14 final at the City of Manchester Stadium in England.

Bayern never looked like scoring and Zenit St Petersburg dominated the game throughout. I was hoping Zenit St Petersburg would get a real battering to bring them back to earth after Advocaat's recent racial remarks.

Bayern was held to a 1-1 tie in the first leg of the semi final in Munich last week and was no match for Zenit in St Petersburg on Thursday. Hitzfeld said "We lost our composure instead of keeping our head."

In the other semi final, Rangers of Scotland and Fiorentina of Italy, who had played to a 0-0 tie in Glasgow last week, repeated the feat in Florence, and then added another scoreless 30 minutes of extra time. That sent the semi final to penalty kicks, in which Rangers prevailed, 4-2, as Christian Vieri and Fabio Liverani both failed on their chances to the immense dismay of Fiorentina fans.

"We were fantastic tonight in how we worked and prevented Fiorentina from scoring," said Rangers coach Walter Smith. Now comes the interesting part. In the final, Rangers will be going up against not only Zenit St Petersburg but also their former coach. Advocaat had charge of Rangers from 1998 to 2002.

I am hoping Rangers will clinch the title to teach Zenit St Petersburg a real lesson.

Your predictions?