Zenit should beat Volga in any condition, Melnikov believes

The first coach of Zenit in Russian history, Vyacheslav Melnikov, believes that moving from a training camp in the Middle East and acclimatization will not prevent the Blue-White-Blues from defeating Volga in the FONBET Russian Cup match, which will be held in Ulyanovsk.

The Petersburgers began preparations for the second part of the season in Qatar in mid-January, from there they went to the United Arab Emirates, and on Thursday they moved to Iran, where they will play a friendly match with the local club Sepahan, after which they will return home.

The game with “Sepahan” will be held on Friday and will start at 15:00 Moscow time, “Match TV” will show the meeting live.

– Of course, it is unusual that football players have been preparing abroad for so long now. But in Russia, the conditions for training in the winter have not been created. It will not be easy for the body to adjust. After all, the weather in Ulyanovsk is cold now – there can be “minus 10” on the day of the match. And in the Emirates – under the “fortieth” heat, everyone goes in shorts and T-shirts. But still there will be teams of different levels. In whatever line-up Zenit comes out, with or without disqualified players, it must beat Volga. This team is an outsider of the First League.

And in general, it’s time for Zenit to take the cup, which in recent years somehow jumped out of hand. It is clear that earlier European cups were a priority – preparations were built for them, and such a tournament as the Russian Cup could be donated. But now there is no Champions League. And it doesn’t look like she’s coming back anytime soon. So Zenit must win all the tournaments in which it participates, RB Sport quoted Melnikov as saying.

The match between Volga and Zenit will take place on February 25, starting at 14:30 Moscow time.

Broadcasts of FONBET matches of the Cup of Russia can be watched on the Match TV federal channel, as well as on the thematic channels of the holding and on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.