Sergei Semak: "It’s great that we were able to draw level"

The Zenit manager spoke to the press after the 3-3 draw with Chelsea at the Gazprom Arena
Sergei Semak:  "It’s great that we were able to draw level"

The game was an open attacking game, we’re weren’t very stable in some areas, but then we played more attacking football and created a lot of chances. We did miss a lot of chances sadly and it’s great that we were able to comeback. We could have won or lost that game and the result is what it is. We will now move forward to the next match.

Today we saw open attacking football, why didn't we see that in other Champions League games?

Chelsea also played open football today, they’ve conceded one goal in the previous five Champions League games and today they conceded three. Yes, they weren’t at their best and their manager rested some players. There were a lot of chances today, and it can be difficult to play like this when the opposition are defensive. Apart from the match with Juventus, we did not manage to create many chances in away matches. Teams play to their own strengths and want to get points. That’s why we had this match and this result.

Why has Sutormin played so little recently?

It is better for him to play with three central defenders, as he is an attacking player, playing as a full-back is more familiar to Karavaev and he was better suited for us today.

Will Wendel and Azmoun play against Dynamo on Sunday? And why was Rakitsky subbed off?

Rakitsky was replaced due to injury. We thought about making the substitution during the break, but we talked to Yaroslav and he said that he would see how he was out there. As for Azmoun, let's see how serious his injury is tomorrow or the day after. Wendel has a muscle spasm, so in the next few days we will find out if it’s serious and how long he will need to recover.

Are you pleased to finish third in the Champions League group or are you upset that you did not make the playoffs?

I think that we deserved Europa League football, this is our second time we’ll be playing European football in the spring. Previously we were unlucky, we scored seven points and that should have seen us go through, but we did not. Only last season we totally failed and we were affected by coronavirus and injuries. We could also look at the change in the foreign player limit. In a nutshell that season was influenced by a combination of factors.

How have Zenit progressed, considering this season’s Champions League result?

New players have joined u, but I can't say that we have strengthened, but we are changing. We have many issues that we are aware of, but things don’t always go as we planned in terms of developing and strengthening the team's style of play or our squad makeup.