FORMER Rangers star Andrei Kanchelskis has accused Zenit St Petersburg players of being too busy infighting among themselves to beat Celtic.
The Hoops take a precious one-goal lead to Russia for the second leg
of the Europa League last 32 tie.
Zenit were caught cold by Celtic in the first leg and were lucky to escape with just the one-goal deficit.
But ex-Ibrox and Manchester United star Kanchelskis reckons that had nothing to do with Zenit being rusty because of a two-month break, it was because of their potent mix of five Argentina internationals in their team – Leandro Paredes, Matias Kranevitter, Emiliano Rigoni, Sebastian Driussi and Emanuel Mammana – stirring it up.
Kanchelskis said: “If the players are fighting in the dressing room, then what kind of atmosphere will that produce on the pitch?
“There is a bad atmosphere around the team. When you put a load of Argentines in with Russians, this is what happens.
“I think there are big problems at Zenit. Everyone knows about the bad atmosphere around the team.
“The issue is not about the actual club itself, but when there is not a good atmosphere among team mates, then problems start.”
But Kanchelskis was hardly very complimentary about his old foes from Glasgow either.
Read more: Kevin Thomson is putting in the hours to inspire the next generation after returning to Rangers
He pointed out: “Celtic are in the middle of their season and we saw that. Zenit had a two month break. That much was very obvious in the first leg.
“For the second leg, Celtic will play the same way they did in the first – they can only play simple football.
“That means nothing they can do will be a surprise to Zenit.
I don’t think they will go defensive either.”
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