St Petersburg One Step Closer To Champions League

Submitted by content on Wed, 09/10/2014 - 12:58

Zenit St Petersburg moved one step closer towards securing a place in the group stages of the Champions League after getting a 1-0 win over Standard Liège in the qualifying match. Despite this victory, manager Andre Villas-Boas has said that the players should not lose focus ahead of the return leg at home. The away goal scored by Shatov in the 16th minute gives the Russian club a huge advantage in the second leg at home. Andre Villas-Boas, who has limited experience managing clubs in the Champions League, will be looking forward to making an appearance in the group stages.

The Portuguese manager was in charge of Chelsea only for a few months before being sacked by the club. He did not have a huge amount of fortune to get Tottenham back into the Champions League. However, the 36-year-old has an immense amount of experience in terms of the Europa League after having won the title with his former club Porto. Zenit have been showing impressive form in Villas-Boas’ first full season in charge. They have managed to score 15 goals in only four league matches. Villas-Boas has said that this impressive run of form may lead to some complacency, which he wants to avoid in the return leg.

"Our job is not finished yet and I suppose the return match will be just as difficult as the one today. But that is a normal thing considering the level of this Champions League competition. Overall it was a good performance from my team. Of course we played better in the first half than we did in the second. We lost too much ball in possession after half-time and Standard used crosses and set-piece situations from which they then created opportunities,” said the former Chelsea manager. Zenit have a league match against Amkar Perm' before the tie against Standard Liège.