Your teammates have singled out Artem Dzyuba, but who do you think is the best player at Zenit and what dangers do they have?
We are playing the best team in Russia and it will be a Champions League match, but I can personally say Dejan Lovren, as he is my friend and I always watch any match he plays in. Zenit are a top-quality team and upfront they have Dzyuba plus several Brazilian players. Lovren and Rakitskiy are at the back and it will be difficult to play against them. But we'll see what we can do and try to take advantage of any mistakes they make.
Over the past few years, the standard of the Russian Premier League may have dropped, but what do you know about the Russian champions?
There is a good level of football in Russia and tomorrow the champions of two countries will meet, so it will be a game of the highest level. There are no easy games now and we must perform at our best and play well individually while looking to make minimal mistakes. If we are brave and play as best we can, we can get a result..
Are you ready to face Dejan Lovren?
Firstly, I am very glad that Dejan is fit again as I know he’s missed a couple of games. When we are together at the national team, we joke about playing against each other. It will be difficult for us in this group and every game is tough, but I try my best. There are no friends on the pitch but after the match Dejan and I will talk and shake hands. I’m positive and am looking for the win.
You were not very involved in the Juventus game. How do you plan to do better tomorrow?
Playing upfront means that sometimes I don’t get that many touches of the ball. I try to play my game and do everything for the team and fight for the ball. Sometimes you only need one touch to get a goal. You don’t always need 90 minutes on the pitch and I try to give my everything out there and everyone who knows me knows that I give 100%. I try to play intelligently and I think that tomorrow we will all give everything that we have.
After losses to Juventus is there more pressure on Malmö?
We didn’t do very well against Juventus and have a lot to learn. They played great and took advantage of our mistakes. We aren’t putting any additional pressure on ourselves and must just focus on ourselves and show what we can do, then we’ll have a chance to get a good result tomorrow. We don’t feel the pressure and we will play our best and look to take the points.
