Zenit St Petersburg coach Sergei Semak reminded his players of the problems Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku could cause tonight.
Speaking to reporters ahead of this evening’s Champions League tie in Russia, Semak highlighted the Belgian as a key weapon for the Blues.
Lukaku will be looking to start his first club game since October against Zenit, following the ankle injury he suffered in this very competition nearly two months ago.
A trio of successive substitute appearances have surely been building to the big day, where he can finally play longer than an hour.
However, Thomas Tuchel will understandably take the cautious approach with his centre-forward.
Don’t rush Romelu
After such a long period of absence, the 28-year-old needs to manage his minutes wisely in order to avoid further damage.
Tuchel has already admitted he regretted the decision to bring on Lukaku at half-time away to West Ham weekend, due to the attacker still not being fully functional.
“I think he was not fit (enough) for 45 minutes, but we chose him for [his] height for the defensive set-pieces and to match the height of the opponents,” admitted the Blues boss after the 3-2 defeat.
Yet, even at 90%, the Belgium international can pose a threat to any defences.
“I think it depends on what’s happening on the pitch, if we play high then we’ll be concerned with their wingers, if we play deeper, then Lukaku could be very dangerous, he’s so good in the air,” said Semak on the Chelsea stars Zenit should be concerned about.
“They are a top-quality strong team and it’s hard to say in which areas they are strongest. It will depend on the situation at hand and how the game plays out.”
Scoring situation
Interestingly, the last goal Lukaku scored for Chelsea was in this exact fixture at Stamford Bridge, 86 days ago.
That effort came off his forehead, an aerial threat that Semak has identified.
Ten goalless games have now passed for the number nine, a run that could – and needs to – be put right later today.
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