Zenit youth team will play first quarterfinal game away

Tomorrow, Zenit U21 will begin their VTB United Youth League quarterfinal series against PARMA-M. The first playoff match for the blue-whites will take place away in Perm. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the decisive stage of the season.

Roman Knyazev’s team finished the regular season in fourth place in the standings, with 33 wins and 15 losses. Our opponent lost just one more game and secured fifth place. This positioning gives the St. Petersburg team home-court advantage if a third game is needed.

The first meeting will take place at the Perm "Pobeda" sports complex. Zenit U21 last played there in January, and on that occasion, both matches were won by the Urals team — 85:78 and 67:61. However, during the October series in St. Petersburg, the teams split victories: Zenit U21 won the first game 72:53, and the second went to PARMA-M — 70:76.

PARMA-M finished the regular season with the second-best scoring average in the League — 80.7 points per game. The home team’s standout player remains point guard Ivan Egorov, who averages 18.7 points per game — the third-best in the tournament.

Zenit U21 head coach Roman Knyazev on the start of the playoffs:

We’ve reached the most exciting stage of the season. It’s an opportunity for our players to grow, develop even further, and become stronger by going through intense games. We’ve drawn a strong opponent, and we respect them. But we’re not planning to offer them anything more than that. We’re determined to show our best basketball with full dedication and passion.

The first quarterfinal match will take place on April 17 at 10:00 St. Petersburg time. The game will be streamed live on the VTB United Youth League website.