Axel Witsel: "Playing with a new back four isn't easy but we did well"
The Belgium midfielder on the win over Orenburg.
It looked like Zenit played three central defenders in the second-half. Is it true that Javi Garcia played that far back?
No, sometimes the coach asks one of the midfielders to fall in the area between the central defenders and midfield and Javi did just that to disperse the attack from deep. This is our game, we're not just doing long balls to Dzyuba.
Today Zenit had a completely new back four combination. Was difficult to play with the new defence?
When you have almost completely changed the back four, it is always more difficult to play. We are more used to playing with Neto and Criscito, but although this was unusual today, for a first time it wasn't bad. Of course, it can always better, but we had to adapt to this combination during the course of the game.
Next week Spartak play CSKA. What's the better outcome for Zenit?
To be honest, I don't know. If CSKA win and we beat Tom, we will stay ahead of the army men by four points and three ahead of Spartak. If Spartak win, CSKA will be far behind the leaders. I don't know what would be better for Zenit. In any case, we have to play against both Spartak and CSKA later.