2008 UEFA Europa League final preview

Posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under News.

Zenit St. Petersburg go into tonight’s 2008 UEFA Europa League final as favourites. Despite facing relegation in their domestic league, the Russian club are riding the wave of a UEFA Europa League goal scoring spree that saw them score five goals in the semi-finals alone.

In contrast Rangers have scored only 8 goals in the UEFA Europa League since tumbling out of the Champion’s League towards the end of 2007. Furthermore the Scottish team will be struggling to remain focussed during a period that will see them play several crucial games over the space of just three weeks.

One thing the Scots do have to their advantage is the prospect of a massive influx of club fans from North of the border. Manchester is preparing to host over 100,000 rabid Rangers fans who are expected to transform the encounter into a virtual home game for the Scottish side.

Bookmakers are favouring Zenit St. Petersburg to emerge from the UEFA Europa League final carrying the trophy. William Hill have Zenit at odds of 6/5 to win their first European title, while Rangers have been priced at 13/5 to claim their first title win in Europe since 1976.