The war in Ukraine was also at the forefront of Thursday’s Eurocups.
Atlananta’s Ruslan Malinovskyi gained prominence for his peace message. AOP
The Zenith of St. Petersburg had arrived in Andalusia well in advance.
Head coach Sergei Semak had wanted to give the team the best possible preparation for the decisive European League match against Real Betis.
However, the plan went awry as soon as the Russian army tried to cross the Ukrainian border. After that, it was clear that it was Zenit’s extracts that would be followed with a magnifying glass.
Betis had won the opening match at the famous Gazprom Arena 3–2, so Semak went on to seek a handicap with a pretty offensive team. There were as many as five Brazilians and one Colombian futari at the opening of Zenit.
Ukrainian confirmation of the team Jarolav Rakytskyi was left on the bench. The defender is only 150 miles from Donetsk, and Semak concluded he would probably not be ready to shed sweat on behalf of Russian glory.
A little earlier on Thursday at Atalanta Ruslan Malinovskyi had solved with two goals from the Blue Black continuation of the Olympics. After both of his hits, the player had revealed his undershirt, on which he had embroidered an anti-war message.
In Seville, Betis supporters had decorated the railings of the Benito Villamarín stadium with green-and-white scarves inscribed “Paz” (Peace). But in contrast to the Naples-Barcelona match that began at the same time, Zenit’s players did not gather behind a common “Stop the war” sheet.
According to the club, the St. Petersburgers have 200 fans on their way, but most of them had decided to return home even before the opening kick.
Discarded paint
Zenit did not get the smoothing he needed either. 197-centimeter invading colossus Artyom Juba of course, it confused the Betis toppers, but the final sharpness was also lacking in the Russian star’s grips.
The visitors scored once, but the VAR Council saw the situation Alexander Jerokhinin error and Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler rejected the hit.
Betis kept the guests at zero and ended Zenit’s euro adventure. At the same time, it saved Uefa from one headache when the umbrella organization didn’t have to think about how it should treat the club team in a country at war.
The finals of the Europa League will be played in Andalusia this year, so the home crowd, of course, took the place with joy. Unfortunately, local competitor Sevilla is still in the race.
The story continues after the picture.
Artjom Dzjuba’s euro adventure ended on Thursday. AOP
Chamber to continue
In Naples, Barcelona eventually took care of itself easily. It knocked out a blue-shirt home team 4–2, making its way to the top 16 with 5–3 overall goals.
The football tradition of the owls in the race is still represented Glen Chamber, who came on the field on Thursday for the last 20 minutes as Rangers battled a 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmud. Since the Scottish club had won in Germany, it also advanced to the next round.