chelsea fc's yuri zhirkov is keen to start hitting his former heights when he meets old foes fc spartak moskva at a stadium which holds painful memories for the english champions.
chelsea fc midfielder yuri zhirkov spent six successful seasons with pfc cska moskva but on tuesday the russian international returns to his homeland on club duty for the first time.
he does so against fc spartak moskva, his former employers' old foes and his current club's group f rivals. something will have to give at the luzhniki stadium – scene of chelsea's 2007/08 uefa champions league final defeat by manchester united fc – as both sides put their 100% records on the line. zhirkov was still more than a year from moving to london at that time, but tuesday's encounter nevertheless holds plenty of significance for the 27-year-old.
"during my time at cska, spartak were our main rivals," he said. "this was the main derby for us and them. spartak are very serious opponents and i think the atmosphere will show the significance of the match. i haven't heard any talk of the 2008 final among my team-mates. it is on a different pitch anyway."
yet to make a premier league start this term, having been in the first xi ten times en route to the title last season, zhirkov knows he still has plenty to prove at stamford bridge. "i haven't lived up to my potential at chelsea yet," added the 38-cap international. "now i'm starting to gain form and fitness. with every game i feel more confident and there is certainly no lack of motivation for me if i have a chance to play [on tuesday].
"spartak are a very good team. after their win in marseille [1-0 on matchday 1] they have improved. they have good players and i'm sure we can expect a tough game. they will try to play attacking football. they have good players up front and they always play attacking at home."
while the game allows zhirkov a return to familiar territory and chelsea the chance to exorcise old demons, it is, according to defender nicolas pareja, an opportunity for spartak to pit their wits against the very best. "it will be a special match," he said. "i have already played in the champions league and played many important matches in spain as well. the difference is that this is against chelsea, one of the best teams in the world.
"during my career i have faced many tough opponents but chelsea play different football, english football. i expect it will be a very difficult match, they have such great players in the squad like [didier] drogba and [nicolas] anelka. for us, the atmosphere will provide extra motivation. the public push us to victory and we always want to play with 80,000 people behind us."
yardımcı hakemler: roberto alonso fernández (esp), jesús calvo guadamuro (esp)
4. hakem: javier turienzo alvarez (esp)
çizgi hakemleri: antonio rubinos pérez (esp), antonio mateu lahoz (esp)
spartak moskova: andriy dykan (gk), aleksandr sheshukov, ibson, ari (dk. 85 jano ananidze), welliton, sergei parshivlyuk (c), evgeni makeev, marek suchý, nicolas pareja, aiden mcgeady, dmitri kombarov
yedekler: sergei pesyakov (gk), christian maidana, martin stranzl, renat sabitov, andrei ivanov, aleksandr kozlov
teknik direktör: valeri karpin (rus)
chelsea: petr Čech (gk), branislav ivanović, ashley cole (dk. 87 patrick van aanholt), michael essien, john obi mikel, florent malouda (dk. 82 gaël kakuta), yuri zhirkov, paulo ferreira, salomon kalou (dk. 74 joshua mceachran), john terry (c), nicolas anelka
yedekler: ross turnbull (gk), jeffrey bruma, billy clifford, jacob mellis
1. chelsea fc...3...3...0...0...8...1...7...9 2. fc spartak moskva...3...2...0...1...4...2...2...6 3. olympique de marseille...3...1...0...2...1...3...-2...3 4. mšk Žilina...3...0...0...3...1...8...-7...0
yuri zhirkov opened the scoring on his return to russia and nicolas anelka also struck as chelsea made it three wins in a row in group f.
a stunning first-half strike from yuri zhirkov on his return to russia helped chelsea fc maintain their perfect uefa champions league group f record with a deserved victory at fc spartak moskva.
both sides came into the game with a maximum six points, but it was the visitors who added to that tally thanks to zhirkov and a second just before half-time by the excellent nicolas anelka. a repeat victory when these sides meet at stamford bridge on 3 november would book chelsea's round of 16 place.
after winning their first uefa champions league match at the luzhniki stadion since 2000 last time out against mšk Žilina, spartak were hoping to extend that run against chelsea. and the capacity crowd could have had something to really shout about had dmitri kombarov not shot over from inside the area after only ten minutes.
instead the visitors broke the deadlock midway through the first half. zhirkov jumped on a loose ball, smashing an unstoppable drive past the helpless andriy dykan to score his first ever goal for the london club. spartak, who were clearly missing the creativity of their injured captain, alex, had plenty of possession, but welliton cut a forlorn figure up front, such was the dominance of john terry and branislav ivanović in the centre of chelsea's defence.
anelka was causing spartak's back four all sorts of problems with his movement, and he could have doubled his side's lead on 38 minutes, after latching on to a back pass, but could not fins the target. however the french striker made no mistake two minutes before half-time, as he slotted the ball past dykan, having been found by a fabulous through ball from michael essien.
spartak upped the tempo in the second half, with aiden mcgeady, who had been subdued before the break, forcing petr Čech into making a couple of smart saves. but for all their intricate interplay, the home side never really looked like reducing the deficit, and had to resort to long-range efforts.
chelsea, were content to sit back and defend, but they could have extended their lead late on, with essien missing a good chance. ultimately, though, victory was secure.
