Updated: April 24, 2008, 4:48 PM EST Comment

add this RSS blog email print

Bayern, the four-time European champion playing in the UEFA Cup for the first time since winning it in 1996, gave up an own-goal to allow the Russian champions to draw in Munich.

Bayern defender Lucio headed the ball into the net while trying to clear a shot from Victor Fayzulin in the 60th minute.

Franck Ribery had given Bayern the lead in the 18th minute, scoring on the rebound after his initial penalty kick was blocked by Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev. The penalty was given after Zenit defender Fernando Ricksen fouled Ze Roberto with a raised leg.

"Making up a goal is difficult but possible," Bayern forward Lukas Podolski said. "If not for that stupid goal we allowed, we might have scored a second."

Zenit nearly scored in the 83rd when Fayzulin's shot bounced off substitute Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing and then Lucio. The ball was headed in for a goal until Ze Roberto dived to clear on the line.

Bayern also had chances.

Lucio's powerful 79th-minute shot was tipped over the crossbar by Malafeev, while striker Podolski had an injury-time strike that just missed the post.

Ricksen's yellow card from the penalty rules him out of next week's second leg in St. Petersburg, Russia. Andrei Arshavin, the Russian national team captain, and Radek Sirl will also be banned for Zenit.

Ricksen's yellow card from the penalty rules him out of next week's second leg in St. Petersburg, Russia. Zenit, which is owned by gas giant Gazprom, knocked out Bayern's Bundesliga rival, Bayer Leverkusen, in the quarterfinals behind a 4-1 home win.

Bayern has already won the German Cup and is on target to win the Bundesliga.

"We will get our chances in the second leg because Zenit likes to attack," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. "Then we have to convert them."

Miroslav Klose recovered from an inflamed foot to start up front alongside Podolski. The tournament's top-scorer with 10 goals, Luca Toni, was suspended and watched from the stands.

Toni's goal-scoring form last season helped his former club Fiorentina to qualify for the UEFA Cup after a six-year absence, and the Italian team dominated against Rangers on Thursday.

Despite that, there were few shots on target.

Adrian Mutu, the former Chelsea striker, had one of the best chances in the 76th minute when his free kick was stopped in a diving save by goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who played instead of the injured Allan McGregor.

"We go away from home with confidence, knowing we can get goals away from home," Rangers coach Walter Smith said.

Rangers, which played its 17th European game on Thursday, has not conceded a goal in its UEFA Cup campaign this season. The club dropped down from the Champions League after the group stage.

"We were up against a brick wall," Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli said. "The match is still open, but it could end up going to penalties. Rangers may have won their games away from home this season, but there's always a first time for everything."

Having lost eight players to injury and suspension, Rangers looked tired. As well as battling for the league title, the club has already clinched the Scottish League Cup and reached the Scottish Cup final.

The congestion of matches has led the Scottish league to formulate two fixture lists depending on how Rangers progresses in the UEFA Cup - one of them extending the season by four days.

The Fiorentina game was a rematch of the first European Cup Winners' Cup. Fiorentina won it 4-1 on aggregate after a two-legged final in 1961. Rangers won the same competition in 1972 for its only European title.

Fiorentina reached the 1990 UEFA Cup final, losing to Juventus.

The UEFA Cup final is on May 14 at the City of Manchester Stadium in northern England.