Misfiring Zenit cause Advocaat concern

Dick Advocaat, Zenit coach
I can say tonight what I said after the Juventus and Real Madrid games in that we controlled the match and created chances. But if you don't score a goal, you always know that your opponents can score on the counter - and that is what we saw tonight. We created nine or ten chances and could have scored two or three goals. As a coach, I always try to find out why we do not score from so many chances but I cannot answer this question right now. We control the game, create opportunities but cannot score. When you attack all the time you know that one mistake can cost you a goal.

We said today that we should remain compact and very tight as we have enough quality up front to score. How many chances did we create in the first half? I can't score goals myself. I did when I was younger but not now. BATE have a team that can hurt you on the counter because they have some very quick, sharp players. I cannot blame my players, they showed a very positive attitude but lacked something. The good thing is that we have learned what we have to change. I cannot change it this season with this squad, but surely we can next term. I still like the way we play because we don't play boring football and sit back waiting for one or two chances. In this group anything can happen. We still have three games to go. In 14 days [when Zenit travel to Belarus for the return fixture], we will know more.

Viktor Goncharenko, BATE coach
I have already said several times that we, the whole country and Borisov can be proud of this team. We were deemed underdogs before the start and it was said that we would get no points in our six games, but we have proved again that we can match the big teams today. We forced Zenit to play at their maximum and show their hand. It was difficult for them because it was their fourth match in eleven days, but that doesn't detract from our achievement. They created a lot of chances but the result is a fair one. The lads are downbeat in the dressing room because we couldn't hold on for the win.

Zenit have very good strikers who can create and finish off chances but we were fierce and aggressive and didn't allow Arshavin and Danny to play their game. Both Juventus and Zenit are big teams and I am equally happy with draws against both of them. We are going forward step by step and are not going to rush things. We still have two league games to go before we start thinking about Zenit again. Our final pass up front was lacking and maybe we were a bit constrained because we didn't really believe we could win, but we played pretty well and were quite good at the back which is the most important thing.