“At this stage we are weaker”: what did the players and coaches say after the defeat of “Zenith” from “Leipzig” in the Champions League

“There were moments, but failed to score”

In the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Zenit lost to Leipzig at home and extended their unbeaten run in the face-to-face confrontation. A year and a half ago, the teams met in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League and then the German club gained the upper hand in their field, and played a draw away.

“At the end of the half we missed, it became more difficult. There were moments that we did not realize. “Leipzig” acts more intensively - when making decisions, moving ... A well-deserved victory, but we need to work. There are still chances, we will try to use each of them. Here they don’t forgive mistakes, the level is high, ”said Zenit head coach Sergei Semak at a field match press conference.

It is worth noting that if in previous meetings with Leipzig Petersburgers invariably hit the opponent’s goal, this time they dispensed with goals scored. Perhaps one of the reasons for this was Semak’s bet on defense - contrary to expectations, the mentor preferred a scheme with three central defenders. However, the specialist noted that he did not consider the choice of formation to be erroneous.

“You need to be realistic, correctly assess the capabilities of the players. Acting in four defenders was difficult, because they are not fast, but the opponent has fast players. At this stage, we are weaker in level, ”said Semak.

According to him, the change in the game model was dictated by the results of the first meeting, because it was the slowness of the central defenders that led to the goal of Conrad Lymer. According to him, the appearance on the field of Jordan Osorio helped to avoid such oversights. In addition, he did not agree that Sebastian Driussi's exit could radically change the balance of forces on the field.

“Do you think that the Argentine could compete in speed with representatives of Leipzig?” He had damage, but nothing serious was revealed. He did not qualify for other reasons. Erokhin is fresher. And we needed such a football player. In speed, few of our athletes can compare with their counterparts. Therefore, they were located low, ”Semak explained.

The head coach hinted that one of the reasons for the difference in class between the Zenit and Leipzig footballers was the lack of a limit on foreign players in the Bundesliga, and also answered whether he considered this meeting the worst for his team in 2019.

“Now it's hard to say. In Leipzig, we created fewer moments. But in both cases, they lost in quality to the team that is stronger than us, ”concluded the mentor.

In turn, the captain of the blue-white-blue Branislav Ivanovich did not agree with the coach’s opinion on the advantage of Leipzig in the class.

“Could and had to fight. But they owned the initiative from the first minutes, then added confidence and dominated. We did not have time to cover them. There is something to learn. This is the Champions League and a good lesson for all of us, ”Ivanovich admitted.

The defender of St. Petersburg did not write off the unsuccessful result in the European Cup for fatigue due to a difficult match with CSKA and expressed the opinion that Zenit had worked on the mistakes after the defeat on the road.

“I think it turned out two different matches. In Germany, we had a good first half, then missed. Today there were moments, but failed to score, ”Ivanovich added.

Serb also did not express surprise at the decision of Semak to replace him in the second half and admitted that he distrusted the VAR system. This statement was made in connection with an unassigned penalty at the gate of “Leipzig” for breaking the rules in Douglas Santos. At the end of the first half, the Brazilian launched a counterattack, but was shot down dangerously close to the penalty border. The video assistant ruled that the foul was committed outside the perimeter, and the chief referee, Orel Greenfield, sent a free kick.

Goalkeeper of “Zenith” Mikhail Kerzhakov expressed respect to the opponent and especially noted their mentor Julian Nagelsman.

“Leipzig” looked different compared to the home match, they have a very strong coach. We need to look at ourselves - we played at home, we had to take points. They have a high class of athletes, I note the speed of the players, ”- quotes the words of the TASS goalkeeper.

Also, the gate guard compared the last rivals of Zenit - CSKA and Leipzig.

“The army is actively undergoing perestroika,“ Leipzig ”is a different level. What about the speed of the game, what about the class of football players, ”concluded Kerzhakov.

“They did not expect Zenit to play on defense”

The head coach of the guests Julian Nagelsman paid tribute to the Petersburgers, but noted that his wards were well prepared for the game. According to him, he dismantled the tactical model of the “Zenith” with both two and three central defenders and was not surprised at the appearance of Jordan Osorio.

He also explained the absence of Timo Werner in the starting line-up of his team, who recorded 13 goals and six assists in his last 15 matches, and assessed the actions of Marcel Zabitzer. The midfielder was involved in both goals of the team and scored in the second meeting in a row.

“Werner did not feel one hundred percent ready and could not leave from the first minutes. Zabitzer looks good all the time. Despite the tight schedule, he is capable of solid jerks. It creates acuteness at the gates of others, although not everything succeeds, ”said Nagelsman.

At the same time, the specialist admitted that Semak’s defense stake was a surprise to him.

“We deservedly won. They did not expect the Zenit to play on defense. We had a lot of time, in places this was not very well used, in a hurry. They created two or three good chances. They scored before the break. When they scored for the second time, the outcome of the match was clear, ”the mentor added.

In addition, Nagelsman did not answer the question of what he would say to his classmate and current mentor of Spartak Domenico Tedesco about Zenit: “If he calls, then I will tell him personally.”

In turn, the evil genius of Zenit Zabitzer spoke highly of the opponent, and also expressed the opinion that striker Artyom Dziuba could successfully play in the German championship.

"Why not? Dziuba is a strong guy. If he makes good awnings and creates chances for him, he will score. So anything is possible, ”the Championship quotes Zabitzer as saying.

Emil Forsberg also highlighted the forward of the Russian national team. The Swedish midfielder said, due to which Leipzig was able to get the better of Zenit.

“We had a good match against a team that defended deeply. We found successful solutions to reveal the protection of Zenit. They knew that they could be dangerous after casting on Juba. We tried to minimize them, ”RIA Novosti quoted Forsberg as saying.