Maintaining a ten-game unbeaten home run in Europe will not be enough for Torino FC as they take on FC Zenit trailing 2-0 and needing a significant win to reach the last eight.
Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition in the first leg, Marco Benassi’s dismissal on 28 minutes helping Zenit to record a 2-0 win. Axel Witsel (38) and Domenico Criscito (53) were the scorers.
• Torino lost 2-1 on aggregate to FC Dinamo Moskva in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup second round, their only previous tie against Russian opponents. The winning goal in their 2-1 home loss to Dinamo was scored by Igor Simutenkov – who is one of André-Villas Boas’s coaching assistants at Zenit. Simutenkov played in Italy with AC Reggiana (1994–98) and Bologna FC (1998–99).
• Zenit’s record in Italy is W1 D1 L2, those losses coming at Juventus (0-1) and Udinese Calcio (0-2).
