Zenit will host UNICS in the WINLINE Basket Cup. Preview

Tomorrow, November 5, the Blue-White-Sky Blues will play their first home game in the group stage of the WINLINE Basket Cup. One of the leaders of the season — Kazan’s UNICS — is coming to Saint Petersburg. Here’s a closer look at the upcoming matchup.

Opponent

Velimir Perasović’s team continues the season at a very solid pace, judging by the results. After their win in Saint Petersburg in 2nd round of the VTB United League regular season, the Kazan side extended their unbeaten streak to six straight games. Their first loss of the 2025/26 campaign came on the road against CSKA Moscow. In a tightly contested battle, the army team came out on top, 86:75.

UNICS managed to bounce back immediately in their next game, which remains their most recent one so far. Last Sunday, the Kazan team defeated Pari Nizhny Novgorod away from home with a score of 84:61.

That’s all in the United League. As for the WINLINE Basket Cup, the team from Tatarstan hasn’t yet played a single match. Tomorrow’s game will be UNICS’s debut in the new tournament, while Zenit has already claimed their first group-stage victory against Uralmash.

Head-to-head

The teams met exactly one month ago, also on the court of CSC Arena in Saint Petersburg. On that occasion, the Kazan side delivered a crushing defeat to the Blue-White-Sky Blues — 104:77 — completely dominating the second half.

A month later, Zenit’s roster has suffered significant losses due to injuries. However, situations like these often strengthen the team and give other players a chance to prove themselves — something both Zenit’s leaders and coaching staff have emphasized more than once.

Zenit and UNICS are set to meet in a new tournament, but if we look at the full history of their clashes in the VTB United League, the advantage still belongs to the visitors — 25 wins to 21 for the Saint Petersburg side.

Direct speech

Zenit head coach Aleksander Sekulic shared his thoughts ahead of the game against the Kazan team:

Like I always say when you are in a situation like this there are players who need to step up to show their value and to present how you fight for your club.UNICS is a very experienced team, very good team, they beat us here, especially in the last quarter, they made the biggest difference of 27 points, but regardless of this game, this is a new game, 0:0, we need to go step by step to play our game, play the way we want to play, and mainly to defend them better than we did last time. I want to use this opportunity again to address our fans. Come, help us. We need your help more than ever now. Whenever we have a full arena or loud fans, they help us to play better.

Who. Where. When.

Opponent: UNICS

Location: CSC Arena, St. Petersburg

Date: November 5, 19:00 (local time)

Broadcast: Match! Igra, WINLINE Basket Cup website, VK Video

Tickets available on the club’s website