on-loan striker sergei kornilenko told uefa.com that fc rubin kazan were seeking a six-point return from their next two group d games as panathinaikos fc head for russia.
emboldened by his first goals for the club, sergei kornilenko told uefa.com that fc rubin kazan have a first group d victory in their sights as panathinaikos fc come calling in uefa champions league.
having joined the russian champions on loan from fc zenit st. petersburg, belarus international kornilenko ended an eight-game domestic and european scoreless run for his new club with both goals in friday's 2-0 victory at pfc krylya sovetov samara. "it was a relief," he said. "to start with, i lacked a little understanding with my team-mates, sometimes luck and sometimes the right skills. rubin really expected goals when they took me on loan, so now i feel much better."
kornilenko and rubin drew a blank when they visited panathinaikos on matchday 3, with the 0-0 leaving both sides without a win in the section. tuesday would certainly be a great time for the 27-year-old to score his first uefa champions league goal, and he felt optimistic. "we are no worse than panathinaikos and we can beat them, especially with our fans behind us," said kornilenko, who was brought in as a temporary replacement for aleksandr bukharov following his move to zenit.
rubin rode their luck late on to secure a stalemate in athens two weeks ago, but achieved their primary objective. "our first aim there was not to concede," explained kornilenko, who scored 11 goals in 15 games on loan at his old club fc tom tomsk in the spring. "however, we were not playing for a draw. we wanted to win but i think we played a little too cautiously."
having emerged unscathed from that game, rubin must push on if they are to challenge for the top places in group d. after kicking off with a 1-0 loss at fc københavn, they drew 1-1 at home against fc barcelona on matchday 2 and now need to start racking up points, at home against panathinaikos and fck, before the return fixture at camp nou on matchday 6. "we want six points from these games, but even if we succeed, qualification will probably not be in our hands," conceded kornilenko.
the gravity of rubin's situation will not, however, detract from the former fc dinamo minsk, fc dynamo kyiv and fc dnipro dnipropetrovsk player's delight at finally experiencing football at the very top level. "this is a very positive phase in my career," kornilenko said of his first uefa champions league experience. "it is very different from the russian league. there, you know every club, while in europe everything is new for me."
the reigning russian champions made their visitors sweat at times in chilly tatarstan but found alexandros tzorvas's goal well guarded.
fc rubin kazan and panathinaikos fc once again played out a goalless draw to leave both clubs with it all to do if they are to qualify for the uefa champions league knockout stages.
the reigning russian champions made most of the running against a cautious panathinaikos side who rarely threatened. however, wayward finishing cost the hosts, while the visitors had goalkeeper alexandros tzorvas to thank, as he pulled off some key saves to earn the greens a point.
the teams had played out a goalless draw two weeks ago in athens, but panathinaikos had a great opportunity to break the deadlock two minutes into the rematch after rubin goalkeeper sergei ryzhikov picked up a back pass inside his area. however, djibril cissé failed to hit the target as rubin had an early let-off.
that was to be the only sniff of a chance for either team early on as the visitors were content to sit back in numbers, regardless of their predicament at the foot of group d, while misplaced passes and a lack of creativity severely hampered the hosts.
kurban berdyev's men began to pick up the tempo with the half-time break approaching, and had two great opportunities to open the scoring in the space of a minute. aleksandr ryzantsev forced tzorvas into a fine save with a header from close range, and seconds later, sergei kornilenko, who scored his first goals in a rubin shirt at the weekend, glanced another effort just wide.
rubin continued to dominate after the restart and ryzantsev had another great opportunity to score on the hour mark, but a heavy touch meant it went begging after he was put clear on goal following carlos eduardo's fine return ball.
berdyev's men laid siege to panathinaikos's goal as the final whistle approached with ryzantsev and césar navas spurning great chances as a lack of a cutting edge in front of goal denied rubin the three points. both teams will now need a major upturn in fortunes if they are to qualify for the round of 16.
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