The youth team finishes preparing for the last match of the season

Due to the incredibly harsh winter weather and snowstorms recently in St. Petersburg, Anatoly Davydov’s crew started training this week at the Small Arena of Petrovsky Stadium, but was forced to switch to indoor practices at Zenit’s Academy for the last two days of the week.

Zenit-Y held its next-to-last practice before the deciding match of its season with Krylya Sovetov-Y at top speed: first a short warm-up and then endurance exercises, after which the players worked on ball control and possession. The field players then moved on to shooting drills that tested the goalposts’ durability.

At the same time as the field players worked on their mastery on one half of the field, the Zenit-Y goalkeeper coach Yury Okroshidze gave his goalies very difficult tasks. First string goalie Andrey Zaitsev tried to stop two shots in a row, while backup Egor Baburin worked at saving shots from the top corners.

The practice ended with various scrimmages. First the youths played in triangles: the first player passes to the flank, the winger crossed to the far post, and the third player had to finish the passing with a shot on goal while the goalkeeper came flying at him.

– I’m very pleased to say that the majority of our players are in good physical form right now, – said Zenit-Y doctor Sergey Sigaev. – Despite the fact that some players got some light injuries from making the transition to a new playing surface, I can say that absolutely all the guys are ready to play in Saturday’s game.

The deciding match of Zenit-Y’s season, which will determine whether the team finishes in second, third, or fourth place in the standings, will take place at the Small Arena of Petrovsky Stadium on Saturday, November 27. The starting whistle will sound at 14:00.