Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has admitted that Zenit St Petersburg having a lengthy winter break before their clash with the Hoops in February will be a factor for the Russian club to deal with.
Roberto Mancini’s team, who drew Celtic in the Round of 32 of the Europa League on Monday, played their last game before the winter break earlier this week, a goalless draw against Akhmat Grozny.
Zenit have no more competitive fixtures before the first leg of their tie against the Scottish champions at Paradise on 15th February.
And Rodgers, who conceded that the lengthy winter break will be a challenge for Zenit, expects the Krestovsky Stadium outfit to prepare for the Europa League game from mid-January.
“It will be, but at the same time I think they won’t have three months off”, he told Celtic TV, when asked if the winter break will be a factor for Zenit.
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“I think they will have a period until middle of January maybe, which will probably give them a four-week block.
“And I think from then they would be working.
“Of course it’s not ideal because we experienced it in the Champions League when we were off.
“We were off for three weeks – you come back in, you come back in training, you want to get some games in, but of course you don’t have the full level of fitness.
“Then you get into very, very important games and you are not at your physical best.
“But you can get through, I think we have showed that.
“So, they will be looking at that. They are very professional so they will not lose a great deal of fitness.
“They will want to come back to that game and get a good result.”
Celtic, who are in the Europa League by virtue of finishing third in their Champions League group, kept their unbeaten domestic run impact by drawing 2-2 with Hibernian at the weekend.
The Bhoys are next up against Hamilton Academical at Paradise on Wednesday.
