Zenit face Volga away in the Russian Cup, how are preparations going for the first official match of the year?
Training is going on as usual and everyone is getting ready for the match, other than those suspended players. Everyone else is ready to play.
What are Volga good at and will the pitch and weather conditions help them? Or with it being the same for everyone are you all equal?
The worse the quality of the pitch is the more any difference in the class and technique is levelled out, the match becomes simpler, movement, tackles, 50-50 balls, rebounds, all that becomes important. We’ve seen from other matches we’ve played this season that the quality of the pitch matters. As for Volga, they’re a good side that plays good football, they’re quick and intense. We liked the matches of theirs we watched. However, cup matches are always different, there’s no room for error and it’s a 50-50 game.
You’ve a week between the Cup match and your first RPL game. Does this mean that you’ll start your best team in Ulyanovsk?
The best players will be on the pitch in Ulyanovsk.
Did you do everything you wanted to at the training camps?
Yes, now the team is where it should be. We gave the guys a little rest after the training camp and then returned to the regime that the players are used to.
How have things been for Renan? Will he travel to Ulyanovsk?
He’ll come with us, but we'll see how ready he will be to play, he still needs to adapt to the weather conditions and understand what we need from him. He has had a few training sessions with us and has made a good impression. We’ll see if he plays in the game a bit later.
Yesterday it was announced that Zenit will play Fenerbahce with all proceeds going to victims of the earthquake. What can you say about this?
This is a great initiative, it’s an opportunity for us to play a continental match against a strong side, and from a humanitarian point of view it’s an important chance to help those in need.
