Zenit St Petersburg’s defender admitted that he was mesmerised by the fandom of Celtic FC and the atmosphere at Celtic Park. But he suggested The Hoops to give their hundred percent at Krestovsky Stadium, as they will be facing the lions in the den on 22nd Feb.
Due to Callum McGregor’s 78th minute goal, Celtic FC won the first leg pretty easily and have a precious 1 goal lead to take to Russia for the second leg of the UEFA Europa League.
Apart from McGregor’s goal Celtic took 11 shots, 3 shots on target, had 60% possession and conceived 8 corners. Whereas Zenit made just 5 shots out of which only 2 shots were on target and had only 40% possession.
Zenit were slaughtered at Celtic Park, and they are eager to make things right at home on Thursday. Emanuel Mammana has promised Zenit’s fans that he will take control in the Baltic city this week, after preparing for the match in another training camp in Rome.
Mammana said: “It was a very difficult match for us. There were several reasons for this – not least because of the pressure we were under in their stadium.
“Now we have to work hard in Rome and make up for our display this week.
“We have watched the video against Celtic. Right from the start of the game, we made mistakes and Celtic put us under pressure.”
