Schwaben lose in Saint Petersburg

With the match played in near unplayable conditions, VfB lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg 2-1. While the temperature is something that can be dealt with, the conditions of Petrovsky pitch was very poor and many league matches would have considerable it unplayable.

However die Schwaben were down a goal only two minutes into the match when Szabolcs Huszti got on the end of Igor Semshov rebound from close range and drove the ball into the net. VfB drew the match level when German international Mario Gómez pounced on a defending error and quickly scored. Ready to go the break, Zenit took the lead when Anatoliy Tymoschuk scored from just outside the area. Following the break, VfB was unable to launch another scoring drive, with Jens Lehmann robbing Pavel Pogrebnyak and the match ended with Zenit winning 2-1.

Of the playing conditions Jens Lehmann said:

"I really don't know if I've played on a worse pitch in my whole European cup career but the conditions were the same for both teams. The result certainly isn't optimal for us but we'll have to wait and see now if the one away goal that we scored tonight will be enough to put us through to the next round."

Markus Babbel complimented his side for their play:

"I really have to compliment my team for their massive fighting spirit but we can't be happy with way we played. The condition of the pitch way notably difficult and we didn't have the luck we needed in the second half. We wanted to pile the pressure on right from the out-set but we unfortunately didn't manage to do that. Hopefully the younger players in our team will be able to benefit from that experience in the return leg. Now at home, with our fans behind us, we will have to turn over the lead that Zenit have."