2008 UEFA Cup Final
The 2008 UEFA Cup Final was the 37th final of the UEFA Cup. It is UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The match was played at the City of Manchester Stadium. It is the home stadium of Manchester City F.C., in Manchester, England,[1] at 20:45 CEST (19:45 local time) on 14 May 2008.
| Event | 2007–08 UEFA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 14 May 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) | ||||||
| Referee | Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden) | ||||||
| Attendance | 43,878 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny 16°C 43% humidity | ||||||
The match was played by Zenit St. Petersburg of Russia and Rangers of Scotland. It was called a battle of Rangers coaching staff, with ex-boss Dick Advocaat, currently the manager of Zenit against current boss Walter Smith. Smith has had two times as manager of Rangers. Both coaches led the Rangers to the Scottish domestic treble; Smith in 1993 and Advocaat in 1999.
Zenit won the match 2–0. They had goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov. It was their first UEFA Cup title. It made them only the second Russian side to win the competition, after CSKA Moscow in 2004–05.
The logo of the final shows a picture of the City of Manchester Stadium, created by English artist Liam Spencer. It was first shown at a ceremony in the stadium on December 6.[2]
Route to the final
Knockout stage
| Zenit St. Petersburg | Rangers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Villarreal H 1 - ;0 | Pogrebnyak 63' | Round of 32 First leg |  Panathinaikos H 0 - 0 | ||
| Villarreal A 1 - 2 Zenit St. Petersburg won on away goals | Pogrebnyak 31' | Second leg | Panathinaikos A 1 - 1 Rangers won on away goals | Novo 81' | |
 Marseille A 1 - 3 | Arshavin 82' | Round of 16 First leg |  Werder Bremen H 2 - 0 | Cousin 45' Davis 47' | |
| Marseille H 2 - 0 Zenit St. Petersburg won on away goals | Pogrebnyak 39', 78' | Second leg | Werder Bremen A 0 - 1 | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen A 4 - 1 | Arshavin 20' Pogrebnyak 52' Anyukov 61' Denisov 64' | Quarter-finals First leg |  Sporting CP H 0 - 0 | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen H 0 - 1 | Second leg | Sporting CP A 2 - 0 | Darcheville 60' Whittaker 90+2' | ||
| Bayern Munich A 1 - 1 | Lúcio 60' (o.g.) | Semi-finals First leg |  Fiorentina H 0 - 0 | ||
| Bayern Munich H 4 - 0 | Pogrebnyak 4', 73' Zyryanov 39' Fayzulin 54' | Second leg | Fiorentina A 0 - 0 (a.e.t.) Rangers won 4 - 2 on penalties | ||
Pre-match
Zenit and Michel Platini asked the British government to ease visa procedures for Russian fans, despite Russia having cancelled visas for British fans travelling to 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow. However, the Director for British Visa Services for the CIS, Mandy Ivemy, said that "for the U.K. government, visas and biometric checks are a vital part of immigration policy, and we are not prepared to waive them".[3]
Meanwhile, there was a mass flow of Rangers fans into Manchester. Over a hundred thousand supporters 'invaded' the city despite the club's official ticket allocation being just 13,000 and police requests for fans to stay at home. The influx of people resulted in there being no vacant hotel rooms in a twenty-mile radius of the city and the total amount of money that was ploughed into the local economy was estimated to be around £25 million.[4]
Rangers' home ground, Ibrox, was opened to show a live beamback of the match to approximately 30,000 spectators. Fans queued overnight for a seat in the stadium. The capacity was reached more than two hours before kick-off.[5]
Match
Team news
Zenit St. Petersburg were without the competition's top scorer, Pavel Pogrebnyak, who had picked up two bookings in the knockout stages of the tournament and was therefore suspended.[6] However, they were able to call upon their other star names such as attacking midfielders Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov, as well as holding midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk.
Rangers manager Walter Smith started with Jean-Claude Darcheville on his own up-front, with a five-man midfield supporting him comprising Steven Davis, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani. Neil Alexander was making only his tenth start in goal for Rangers, first choice keeper Allan McGregor was injured.
Match details
Zenit St. Petersburg  | 2 - 0 |  Rangers |
|---|---|---|
Denisov  72'Zyryanov 90+4' |
Report |
     Zenit St. Petersburg
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 Rangers
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Match statistics
| Zenit | Rangers | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals scored | 2 | 0 |
| Total shots | 19 | 8 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 56% | 44% |
| Corner kicks | 9 | 2 |
| Fouls committed | 12 | 12 |
| Offsides | 3 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Fan violence
The event was marred by fans rioting in Manchester city centre; these riots started after a big screen that was due to show the match had failed. BBC News 24 interrupted normal programming to broadcast the riots live on television.[8] ITN's flagship News at Ten programme gave a lot of coverage to the riots.[9][10][11][12]
A Zenit fan was also attacked and stabbed.[13] Six Rangers fans were arrested on suspicion of grevious bodily harm.[14]
References
- Chaplin, Mark (4 October 2006). "Moscow chosen for 2008 final". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
- "A great opportunity for Manchester". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- Delany, Max (7 May 2008). "50,000 British Fans Coming to Town". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
- "100,000 Rangers fans invade Manchester" Daily Mail (14 May 2008)
- Sarah Holt (14 May 2008). "Uefa Cup final as it happened". BBC Website. See 1738. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- Fordyce, Tom (13 May 2008). "Who are Zenit?". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- Ravdin, Eugene (14 May 2008). "Proud Arshavin spent by star turn". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- "BBC News Live". BBC News. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- Taylor, Paul (14 May 2008). "Pub Closed After Brawl". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. Media. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- "Violence marrs Uefa showpiece". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. Media. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- "The Uefa Cup Final day in video". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- "Violence mars Uefa final". Independent Television News. 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- Bloxham, Andy (15 May 2008). "Man stabbed in Manchester following Glasgow Rangers' Uefa defeat". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- "Uefa Cup fans clash with police". BBC Website. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
| Preceded by UEFA Cup Final 2007 |
UEFA Cup Final 2008 |
Succeeded by UEFA Cup Final 2009 |