The draw for the next UEFA Champions League 2015-2016 season took place on 27 August in Monaco. St. Petersburg “Zenith” recognized their rivals in the group stage of the tournament.
Andre Vilash-Boash's charges became Russian champions in the 2014-2015 season. Zenit St. Petersburg confidently won the Russian Football Premier League, which allowed footballers from the banks of the Neva to get into the first basket of the draw for the group round of the main club football tournament of the Old World.
By lot, Zenit got into the eighth group - Quartet N. Teams from Spain (Valencia), France (Lyon) and Belgium (Gent) will become the rivals of the current champion of Russia.
Spain's Valencia finished fourth in the last La Liga season, allowing the club to advance to the playoff round of the qualifying stage for the 2015-2016 UEFA Champions League group stage. "Valencia" in a two-round confrontation defeated the French "Monaco" with a total score of 4-3 (victory in Spain 3-1 and defeat in France 1-2).
From the third basket “Zenith” got the vice-champion of the French Ligue 1 “Lyon”. “Lyon” was the leader in the French championship last season for a long time, but still lost the first place to the more skilled players of the capital's club PSG. Despite the fact that Lyon have not made the Champions League playoffs that often lately, this French club has a wealth of experience in European competition, which speaks of the status of the team.
From the fourth basket, “Zenith” got not the most eminent club in the European framework. In group H will play the champion of Belgium "Gent", which is already recognized as an outsider of this quartet by many football experts.
