Nicolas Lombaerts: Zenit St. Petersburg could get to the Champions League quarter-finals

The Belgium international was over the moon with his side's historic qualification to the round of 16 of Europe's top club competition after goalless draw with Porto

By Stefan Coerts

Roman Shirokov, Zenit St Petersburg
Getty Images
Zenit St. Petersburg defender Nicolas Lombaerts has expressed his delight with his side's qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League, and feels his team can can go far in the competition.

The Russian giants held Porto to a scoreless draw on Tuesday to secure second spot in Group G, and Lombaerts is confident that Zenit can continue their good run of form and go beyond the round of 16.

"We could get to the Champions League quarter-finals. Anything is possible. It has been a magnificent campaign. We're top in the league, six points clear; we could be champions again," Lombaerts was quoted as saying on the Uefa website.

"It's the first time we've got through to the last 16, so it's truly historic. It was very difficult against Porto.

"They were better than us, and deserved to win, but that's football. We played like that against APOEL, so we are just very happy today [Tuesday]. Vyacheslav Malafeev saved us. He played a magnificent match."

Zenit had to settle for third place finish behind Real Madrid and Juventus the last time they made it to the group stages of the Champions League back in 2008-09.



 
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