Zenit St Petersburg v Benfica: ZENIT ST Petersburg must overcome the absence of their most creative player, midfielder Danny, when they face Benfica in a Champions League last-16, first leg tie tonight after the Portugal international was ruled out for eight months after tearing knee ligaments in training last week.

“Danny is a very important player for us but a club like Zenit should not depend on just one player,” said coach Luciano Spalletti.“Other players must raise their game and help us overcome this problem.

Zenit are also without Italy defender Domenico Criscito due to food poisoning and have injury worries over goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev, midfielder Roman Shirokov and striker Danko Lazovic.

The experienced Malafeyev, who is nursing a calf strain, has kept a clean sheet in the last three Champions League outings including a 0-0 draw at Porto in their final Group G match which secured Zenit a place in the knockout round for the first time.

If Malafeyev does not recover in time, Spalletti is likely to bring in Belarus international Yuri Zhevnov.

With temperatures dipping below -15 Celsius in St Petersburg over the past week, officials said they would make a decision on the match shortly before kick-off.

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus relies on a stable defence and is spoilt for choice in midfield and up front with a host of options including Argentine Nicolas Gaitan, Brazils Bruno Cesar and Spaniard Nolito.

Argentine Javier Saviola is also among the contenders to start in attack alongside Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo.