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2 May, 2008 09:07

St Pete reach UEFA Cup final

Zenit Saint Petersburg hammer Germany's Bayern Munich 4-0 to make it through to the UEFA Cup final for the first time in the club's history. They face Scotland's Glasgow Rangers in the final on May 14 in Manchester.

The tournament’s leading striker, Pavel Pogrebnyak, opened the scoring just four minutes in.

Russian international Konstantin Zyrayanov made sure Dick Advocaat’s men went in at the break two up.

In the second half, Viktor Fayzulin made it three before Pograbynyak got his second and Zenit's fourth. The Russians went through 5-1 on aggregate.

The other semi-final was decided on penalties, with Glasgow Rangers beating Fiorentina 4-2. This means that in the final Zenit's head coach, Dik Advocaat, will be up against the club he managed from 1998-2002.

The final will be played in Manchester on May 14.

Thousands of Russian fans of St. Petersburg’s Zenit are set to flock to the UK to support the team. However, there will be hurdles they'll have to overcome which have nothing to do with football.

Those who want to watch the game in Manchester will have to go through cumbersome procedures to obtain a British visa.

The British Consulate in Moscow has said it will work solely with Zenit fans for two weeks, and put a hold on all other applications.

Up to 12,000 fans are expected to apply for permits – which is more than half of what the Consulate usually handles in a year.

Meanwhile, the Russian Consulate in London says it will work day and night to issue Russian visas to four times as many British fans. They're set to travel to Moscow to watch the first-ever all-English Champions League final.

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