UEFA Champions League 2014, Borussia Dortmund vs. Zenit St. Petersburg: BVB advance despite home loss

Even so, new Zenit St. Petersburg coach André Villas-Boas -- who doesn’t take charge officially until tomorrow -- will be rather pleased with what he’s got to work with. Save for ceding a good early chance to Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Zenit looked confident in the first half. They managed to keep the ball well in midfield, and, thanks to the industry of their mobile midfield pivot, make Dortmund look rather pedestrian going forward.

However, the German hosts were still scarcely challenged at the back, and it took a moment of sheer brilliance from Hulk for Zenit to breach Roman Weidenfeller’s goal. He skipped away from Nuri Şahin before unleashing a thunderbolt from distance to spark some life into the tie -- though the Russians still needed two goals.

Oh my god, Hulk.

According to NASA, that shot traveled at ∞ mph.

Zenit apparently line up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Hulk partnering Aleksandr Kerzhakov up top, and Danny and Oleg Shatov out wide. With Axel Witsel their only true defensive midfielder, it looks like they’re really going all out attack -- and, given that they’re 4-2 down on aggregate, they really need to. Let’s just hope it doesn’t backfire too badly.

Zenit St. Petersburg starting lineup (4-4-2): Vyacheslav Malafeev; Domenico Criscito, Nicolas Lombaerts, Tomáš Hubočan, Aleksandr Anyukov; Oleg Shatov, Viktor Fayzulin, Axel Witsel, Danny; Hulk, Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

Since the home defeat, Zenit fired their coach Luciano Spalletti, as they ceded the Russian Premier League lead to Lokomotiv Moscow. It has since been announced that they’ve hired André Villas-Boas as a replacement, but with the Portuguese coach not due to be presented until Thursday, it’s likely this game will still be in the hands of caretaker Sergei Semak.

Borussia Dortmund injuries and suspensions

Luciano Spalletti hasn’t exactly had the easiest time as Zenit St. Petersburg manager. By now, he probably expected to have a shiny new stadium that allowed him to spend more money and a fanbase that had loosened their attitude on black players. Instead. Zenit still play in the Petrovsky Stadium and the signings of Hulk and Axel Witsel led to a mini-revolt that he never totally recovered from. Some of his core players got old too, and he couldn’t replace them adequately due to Russia’s foreign player rules. After over four years at the club, he was sacked last week.

Some things at Zenit were out of control, but others were not. The club has stagnated in recent years and, while much of that can be put on the aforementioned outside factors, it also falls partially on his management. The horrible defensive performance that his side put in during the first leg of this tie was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back and Andre Villas-Boas will be taking over shortly, though Sergei Semak will act as caretaker boss for the second leg.