Glasgow Rangers Vs. Zenit St. Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium 14th May

Rangers face the Russians in the 50th UEFA Cup Final 2008 at Eastlands.

After the defeat of Fiorentina in the semi-final and Zenit St. Petersburg's thrashing of Bayern Munich by 4-0 during their own fixture, the Russian side will face the Glaswegian team on Wednesday 14th May at the neutral Manchester City ground. Bayern have fared well domestically this season but missed a Champions League slot and it was assumed that UEFA cup dominance was assured. Zenit are not a highly regarded or well-known team on the world stage so this surprise success means that Rangers should treat them with caution.

Despite being regarded as one of the top two teams in the SPL, Rangers have only previously won one European trophy back in 1972. Their semi-final game against Fiorentina was a goal-free stalemate although the Italian side dominated the play. Russian teams do not have an illustrious history in the UEFA cup, although CSKA Moscow won in 2005.

Both teams have a connection to Manchester. Rangers is the Glaswegian equivalent of Manchester City (a link with age-old religious significance) and there is an affinity between the two teams as there also is between Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic. St. Petersburg is also a twin city for Manchester. The current Zenit manager, Dick Advocaat, was once the Rangers boss. On a further note of rivalry, Manchester looks foward to an estimated 60,000 - 100,000 football fans descending on the city in a competition to see whether the two nationalities, both renowned for being fans of the grog (Scotch whisky and Russian vodka), can possibly outdrink each other during their stay.