UEFA Cup Semis LIVE: Part one

By: Ian Rose | April 24th, 2008

Well, same as last round, I’ll be keeping this post open as a sort of live score / live blog on today’s two simultaneous UEFA Cup semifinal first legs. Check back for the latest score and the broad strokes of the news, but I’ve got some rather shaky streams today, and so don’t count on up-to-the-second kick by kick analysis. I’ll do my best. Here we go.

Bayern Munich 1-1 Zenit St. Petersburg (Ribery 19′, Lucio o.g. 61′)
Rangers 0-0 Fiorentina

22:38 – And that’s it in Munich as well. Man of the Day, of both matches, is Viacheslav Malafeev. 13 saves, and one goal from Franck Ribery, from about five feet away, allowed. An epic day for the Zenit vice captain, who will not be buying the beers tonight.

22:32 – Final score in Glasgow is nil and nil.

22:28 – Looks like the team of clean sheets, Rangers, will have themselves another one, unless Bobo and Friends can make a late charge, and Zenit has only five minutes to hold on for an incredible draw. Good on them, though – they’re still pushing for this. Arshavin boots wide … some practice on accuracy in St. Petersburg wouldn’t be wasted this week.

22:26 – Zenit win their first corner, to Bayern’s 8, but do little with it.

22:14 – The Viola goes with the time-tested cure for all 0-0 draws … it’s Bobo Viera on the pitch. Meanwhile, Lucio is trying to become the second coming of Deivid, making up for his own goal, but his shot is tipped over by the fantastic Malafeev.

22:12 – 59 fouls in the two games so far, and the Zenit midfield is now on three yellows, but they are holding strong. This team is no minnow.

22:10 – Mutu threatens, finally, with a nice 30 yard free kick, but Neil Alexander is up to the task. The back up man has done his duty so far tonight. I also hasten to add that he is a Scotland international, and third in line behind Gordon and McGregor for his national #1 shirt, with 3 caps to his name.

22:06 – Zenit get their first offside call of the night, indicative of their new attacking mindset. Things have settled a bit in Glasgow, with Rangers and Fiorentina both having decent runs of play, but threatening each other’s goals very little.

22:04 – Zenit are much better this half, actually possessing instead of clearing, and Malafeev actually has had some time to relax in goal. They can smell this draw, or even a win, now, especially with Kahn out for Bayern.

22:02 – Another miss left from The Schwein. Bayern got knocked a little off balance by that own goal. They better get it back. Perhaps Mr. Toni is in order? And Ollie Kahn is off the field injured. Rensing takes over in goal.

22:00 – OH MY. It’s the week of the own goal, as Lucio deflects in … that’s amazing luck for Zenit, and it’s all tied up in Munich. Bayern has to know how good Zenit are at home. An amazing turn of events.

21:58 – Walter Smith subs out both of his attackers … a Whaaaaa? … and it’s Thomas Buffel in for Nacho? I don’t have the words. Meanwhile, Podolski has his shot blocked. It appears that Zenit don’t want Sam to win that shirt.

21:56 – Steven Davis heads wide for Rangers. The pressure is starting to build for Rangers, though, and their goals might be changing from “Don’t Concede” to “Don’t Concede, and Maybe, Just Maybe Score”. Novo follows it up with a bad shot and a bad decision. Should have passed.

21:55 – Zurianov has a shot for Zenit, but it’s wide left. Just one shot on target in five total for Zenit … that’s not what’s needed to beat a team like Munich. When you get your chances, they’ve got to be on the mark.

21:52 – Schweinsteiger .. again … he is now “The Schwein” … has a try, but again it’s Malafeev for the save.

21:50 – Pavel Pogrebniak, who I’m calling Pavel P. from now on, gets his first shot of the night, but can’t keep it down. As Bob Uecher would say “There’s a lucky fan”. In another case of strange coincidence, Nacho Novo does the same thing, only from farther out. Rangers still haven’t managed a shot on goal.

21:49 – Cuellar breaks up the opening move from Fiorentina. The Viola will feel very hard done by if they leave Glasgow without a goal, considering the moves they’ve made.

21:47 – Back underway. There’s a jersey on the line here, so let’s see some goals .. or no goals, if that’s what you guessed.

Halftime
A minute to catch the breath … damn … Daddies, don’t let your children grow up to blog two games at once. Anyway, at the half, Bayern’s got the 1-0 lead and things are all even in Glasgow. Men of the half for me: Bayern: Ribery: as Inara said, he pledged to get revenge for Marseille, and he’s done his part. Zenit: Malafeev : scouts in the crowd are underlining his name and putting little hearts around it. Rangers: Broadfoot: the only one trying to create something for them. Fiorentina: Pazzini: I actually think he looks better than Mutu, which probably means Mutu with two goals in the second half, but we’ll see.

PS – 1-0 to Bayern at halftime was called by eight of our entrants in the podcast jersey giveaway. But its the final score that matters, and those start to diverge in the second half.

21:25 – Some communication problems between Cuellar and Alexander, but that’s to be expected, since one is from Spain and the other has never started a game this season. Another save from Malafeev – that’s seven in the first half.

21:23 – Ohhhh … Krizanic has what might be the best chance of the game for Zenit, and he heads it wide. I have to admit, I wanted that one in.

21:22 – That’s two yellow cards for the Zenit midfield. I don’t know if they saw that match with Getafe, but going down a man doesn’t make things any easier.

21:20 – Bayern has had 2/3 of the possession so far, and its only down to their keeper’s heroics that Zenit isn’t in a bigger hole.

21:17 – Ribery tries again, this time from about 30 yards further out, and with far less luck. Kuzmanovic does the same for Fiorentina, but with the same result. Both misses. Nice reply from Zenit, but their shot, rather ambitious even on its own, is well blocked by Lucio.

21:15 – Mutu got away with a handball there, but Rangers won’t complain too much … they ought to be happy they’re not trailing.

21:14 – This is reminiscient of the first half of the Barca – Man U game. There probably is another half to the pitch, but we don’t often see it.

21:13 – That was four shots in six minutes for Bayern. That keeper Malafeev is going to want a raise if he can keep it at 1-0.

21:12 – So far, the newcomer Rangers goalie is holding up better than the veteran Rangers defense. If they keep giving Mutu the ball, they will eventually pay for it.

21:09 – Malafeev is taking a beating in the Zenit goal, but he’s standing up to it. Finally his team gets some sort of control back, leading to a shot from Radek Shirl, but its not enough to beat Ollie Kahn.

21:08 – Montolivo gets a shot in against Rangers, but Hemdani is there to deflect it. Yellow card for Mario Santana.

21:07 – Bayern wants more, and could have had it through Miroslav Klose, but his header flies wide.

21:06 – GOAL. It’s Franck Ribery with a tap in from virtually right on the goal line. Munich is on the board.

21:05 – And there’s a shot, at long last, from Rangers, but Whittaker is well off target. Still, they are thinking of offense somewhere in their heads, and that’s a relief.

21:04 – Promptly, when I call the Ibrox match unphysical, Fiorentina fouls Darcheville. Funny.

21:00 – I would have expected the Ibrox match to be the more physical, but there are fouls every which way in Munich, and it won’t be long before we see cards, I’d bet. Meanwhile some signs of life from Darcheville, but nothing to challenge the Viola goal.

20:58 – Fiorentina really turning it on now. Great opportunity, completely wasted, for Pazzini, but the momentum is all Viola right now.

20:57 – Mutu gets his first look at goal, and trickles one into Alexander’s arms. The newcomer in Rangers goal will have been happy to have that one to start with.

20:52 – Great run, in open space, from Martin Jorgensen, but he finishes off with nothing at all.

20:51 – Another shot from Schweinsteiger, and another miss wide. For bloggers’ sakes, I do hope someone with a somewhat shorter name makes some plays as well. Meanwhile, this may be another yawner from Rangers … they look to have very little ambition right now.

20:50 – Cuellar gives up an awful ball to Mutu, but it comes to nothing. Could have been an early disaster for Rangers.

20:49 – Fernando Ricksen has been called in to make clearances three times in the first five minutes for Zenit. If they sit back and hope to weather the assault, it could be a long night for the Russians.

20:48 – Early shot from Schweinsteiger, to start what must be a barrage from Bayern. He misses wide.

20:45 – We’re underway. Let’s see if these two games can manage more than the two combined goals from this week’s CL matches.

20:29 – If anyone’s interested in the betting odds on these two, it looks like Bayern are favored pretty heavily, with payouts of 1.44 for home win, 4.33 for a draw and 7 for a Zenit win. They give a slight advantage to Fiorentina, at 2.5 to Rangers 3, with a draw payout of 3 as well.

20:20 – Just under a half hour to wait. Neil Alexander has some huge boots to fill taking over Rangers’ goal from Allan McGregor, especially with Adrian Mutu in the wings. And that Bayern lineup of Ribery, Klose and Podolski would scare anyone, with some guy named Luca Toni on the bench. What a strike force to choose from.

20:15 – And for the other match, we now have starting lineups as well:
Bayern: Kahn, Lucio, Lahm, Jansen, van Bommel, Ze Roberto, Schweinsteiger, Demichelis, Ribery, Klose, Podolski
Zenit: Malafeev, Krizanac, Ricksen, Tymoschuk, Zurianov, Denisov, Shirl, Shirokov, Faitzulin, Arshavin, Pogrebniak

20:08 – Rangers look to be fielding something like a 4-4-2. Here are the lineups:
Rangers – Alexander, Weir, Dailly, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Whittaker, Papac, Hemdani, Davis, Novo, Darcheville
Fiorentina – Frey, Gamberini, Ujfalusi, Jorgensen, Liverani, Santana, Gobbi, Montolivo, Kuzmanovic, Mutu, Pazzini

That’s two players for Rangers who they won’t have in their next few league matches, as Weir and Cuellar start suspensions.