AZ Alkmaar 2-2 Zenit St Petersburg

May 11 2008 Scott Mcdermott At Dsb Stadion

Rangers V Zenit .. 3 Days To Go

ZENIT St Petersburg failed to frighten Rangers last night as they warmed up for the UEFA Cup Final with a tepid display. The Russian champions are supposed to be fresh after being handed a 13-day break ahead of the crunch clash in Manchester on Wednesday night.

But on this disappointing display it's THEM and not Walter Smith's side who look jaded and lacklustre.

Ibrox assistant boss Ally McCoist was in the stand to watch Dick Advocaat's men play their final game before the showpiece tie in midweek.

But despite earning a draw with AZ thanks to a much-improved second-half performance Gers should have no fear.

There are only 426 miles between Glasgow and Alkmaar but yesterday they seemed a world apart in terms of preparation for the final.

Just after noon at Ibrox, Walter Smith's quadruple-chasing stars sweated buckets in the Govan heat. They chased and scrapped for every ball against a battling Dundee United side.

Watched by 50,000 and millions more on TV, Rangers were under the microscope. Huge pressure, high tension and anxiety with shattered legs to boot.

They couldn't have had it tougher. We all know the SPL didn't help them but in a perverse way maybe they did.

Zenit's warm-up for the showpiece in Manchester? A virtual kickabout where they barely got out of first gear.

After the Russian league's decision to postpone Zenit's games before facing Rangers, Advocaat took his side back to his homeland for a friendly against Louis van Gaal's men.

Even though around 10,000 fans turned up for the testimonial-style game you wonder how much it helped Zenit.

Advocaat deployed Turkish ace Fatih Tekke as his main striker with quick Argentinian Alejandro Dominguez and Andrei Arshavin to either side of him.

Skipper Anatoliy Tymoschuk anchored midfield alongside Konstantin Zyryanov and youngster Igor Denisov.

But despite two sizzling shots from Denisov - one of which Dominguez tipped on to the bar - they looked a far cry from UEFA Cup finalists.

It was difficult to judge them in what was effectively a bounce game but with places up for grabs more was expected of their players. It made you look again at their UEFA Cup group where they qualified with just five points. It was only Everton's win here in Alkmaar which saw Zenit get past that stage.

After 26 minutes AZ's Brazilian striker Ari picked out Graziano Pelle in the box and he coolly fired the ball past Vyacheslav Malafeev for the opener.

Zenit's defence was wide open and the keeper got his angles all wrong as he rushed from his line.

It wasn't long before the home side made it two from a Simon Poulsen corner. His cross found Hector Moreno who guided his header home.

This time it was Tymoschuk at fault as the Ukrainian was supposed to be marking the Alkmaar centre-back.

But seconds before the break, centre back Roman Shirokov found space in the AZ box and fired beyond Boy Waterman to reduce the deficit.

Advocaat made six changes at half-time and Zenit looked better for it. Tomas Hubocan and Alexander Gorshkov gave them more solidity at the back while Gers old boy Fernando Ricksen and former captain Vladislav Radimov added fluency to the midfield.

But barely a tackle of note went in on either side and that might just go against the Russians in midweek.

Arshavin had a great chance to make it 2-2 on the hour mark but his effort was brilliantly saved by AZ's substitute keeper Joey Didulica.

Ricksen then got himself into the box but couldn't finish from six yards.

Fernando might have calmed down a bit off the pitch since signing for Zenit but he's still the same fiery character on it.

The Dutchman still moans at refs and was arguably the only Zenit player who didn't look scared to go in for tackles.

Arshavin had a free role after the break and if he's given licence to roam against Gers he could cause them major damage.

Zenit deserved their equaliser when it came but thankfully the man who earned the penalty and dispatched it won't be able to feature against Gers.

Pavel Pogrebnyak is suspended for the final and Smith will be grateful for that. Despite getting a draw, Zenit's display will have given Rangers real hope.

If they can get at the Russians early on or play the counter-attack football that dismantled Sporting Lisbon there's every chance of lifting the UEFA Cup.