Zenit to offer Marseille no quarter

A late goal at Olympique de Marseille has given FC Zenit St. Petersburg hope of a place in the quarter-finals as Erik Gerets' side carry France's hopes in the UEFA Cup.

• Two goals from Djibril Cissé either side of a Mamadou Niang effort gave the home side a 3-0 lead in the first leg in France, but Andrei Arshavin's strike has left Zenit with a fighting chance in the return.

• With Olympique Lyonnais losing out to Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League last week, Marseille are now France's only representatives in UEFA club competition.

• The two sides were drawn together at the same stage in the 2005/06 competition, with Zenit prevailing 2-1 on aggregate following a 1-0 win in France and a 1-1 draw on home soil.

• Arshavin scored the winner in the first leg, while Aleksandr Kerzhakov put the 2007 Russian champions ahead in the return before Frédéric Déhu equalised.

• Kerzhakov subsequently left the club for Sevilla FC, where he won the 2006/07 UEFA Cup. However, he returned to Russia join FC Dinamo Moskva for a €7m fee on 25 February.

• Of the current Marseille squad, Taye Taiwo, Wilson Oruma, Mamadou Niang and Samir Nasri played in the first leg while goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso was an unused substitute.

• Oruma was suspended for the second leg along with Franck Ribéry, who was sent off in the first leg in France. Deputising for the injured Fabien Barthez, Carrasso endured a grim evening. At fault for letting Kerzhakov's strike go in, he was dismissed in the dying seconds for a foul on the goalscorer.

• Taiwo, Niang and Nasri also played in the second leg, as did Lorik Cana.

• Marseille's then coach Jean Fernandez missed the second leg after being suspended along with his assistant Albert Emon for comments made to the referee after the game in France.

• Dick Advocaat has replaced Vlastimíl Petržela as Zenit coach since then, but the first-team squad remains substantially unchanged. Along with Arshavin, current squad members Vyacheslav Malafeev, Ivica Križanac, Radek Šírl, Vladislav Radimov, Igor Denisov and Aleksandr Anyukov played in both legs of that tie while goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov was twice an unused substitute. Olexandr Gorshkov also played in the second leg.

• In total, Marseille have now played ten games against Russian sides, winning six, drawing two and losing two. They have already met Russian opponents in this season's UEFA Cup, beating FC Spartak Moskva 3-2 on aggregate in the Round of 32.

• Marseille's 2-0 defeat at FC Spartak Moskva in this season's Round of 32 was their first on Russian soil. In their previous four visits, they earned two wins and two draws.

• Zenit played only one game against French opposition prior to their previous tie against Marseille, losing 2-1 at LOSC Lille Métropole in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Marseille coach Gerets' long playing career included only one game against Russian opposition as his Belgium side beat the USSR 4-3 at the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals.

• He and Zenit coach Dick Advocaat's paths did not cross during their respective spells with PSV Eindhoven, but they have been on opposite sides before as coaches in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League group stage. Advocaat's Rangers FC side twice overcame Gerets' PSV, 1-0 in Eindhoven and 4-1 at Ibrox.

• Advocaat, who is serving the second term of a three-match touchline ban for gross misconduct in Zenit's UEFA Cup Round of 32 game at Villarreal, was involved in four games against French sides as a club coach with Rangers. His team earned three draws and one win against Ligue 1 outfits.

• Zenit's Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen and Marseille central defender Julien Rodriguez were team-mates at Rangers in 2005/06.

• Marseille midfielder Boudewijn Zenden played under Advocaat during the opening spell of his career at PSV, joining FC Barcelona in 1998 while his coach left for Rangers. Under Advocaat, Zenden helped PSV win the 1995/96 Dutch Cup and the 1996/97 Eredivisie title.

• Zenit's Roman Shirokov and Šírl are back after one-match suspensions, but Kim Dong Jin is out after being booked in Marseille. Šírl, Ricksen, Pavel Porgebnyak and Aleksandr Anyukov are within a booking of a one-match ban.

• Marseille's Cana returns after his one-match suspension. Steve Mandanda, Cissé , Nasri and Niang are within a booking of bans themselves.

• Having parachuted into the competition from the UEFA Champions League group stage, Marseille beat Spartak 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Round of 16. After finishing third in UEFA Cup Group A, Zenit beat Villarreal on away goals in the Round of 32, winning 1-0 at home and clinging on to lose 2-1 in Spain.

• The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the UEFA Cup will be held at UEFA HQ in Nyon on 14 March at 14.00CET.