Rangers will need to master both the familiar and the relatively unknown if they are to overcome Zenit St Petersburg and lift their first European trophy for 36 years. The well-known comes in the shape of Dick Advocaat, the former Ibrox manager who has exceeded all expectations since moving to Russia's second city less than two years ago.

A first Premier League title was secured last November meaning Zenit (pronounced Ze-neet) will make a debut appearance in the Champions League in 2008/09. Before then, of course, there is the small matter of a UEFA Cup final against Rangers to consider, Zenit having reached that stage by dismissing such high-profile opponents as Villarreal, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and, most prominently, Bayern Munich.

Granted, Zenit have had considerable financial backing during their recent dramatic ascent, from Gazprom, Russia's largest gas exporter and extractor. However, having failed to entice the cream of world football to join him in Europe's most northerly city and share Gazprom's wealth, it is Advocaat who deserves the bulk of the credit for Zenit's recent success, according to Neil Harvey, sports presenter and reporter with Russia Today, a global English-language news channel.

"Zenit's recent success seems to have coincided with Dick Advocaat coming over as manager as it's not as if their team is filled with household names," Harvey said.

"Advocaat has been calling for Gazprom to put in more money as he feels they need massive investment if they are going to flourish.

"They have a good side, but when they have players missing it becomes very difficult. They only have 12 or 13 players of a certain level and you need a lot more than that to compete in Europe. The biggest problem, though, is convincing players to come and play in Russia. At the moment Advocaat is having to work mainly with the best of Russia.

"Against Bayern eight of the players in the starting line-up were Russian and not too many of them would have rung too many bells around the world. So, Advocaat's the man who probably has to take all the credit, and he certainly did that in his press conference after the second leg.

"The soundbite we've been running is of him saying, When we came here the team were going in the wrong direction. Now look at us: we've got a league title and a place in the UEFA Cup final. What more do you want?' "So he was really basking in the glory and milking it while he can. He's very highly thought of here in Russia."

Into the relatively unknown category falls Andrei Arshavin, the midfield playmaker who sat out the 4-0 victory over Bayern through suspension. Arshavin, at 26, remains largely unheralded outside of Russia, although Tottenham and Newcastle are reportedly among a clutch of clubs monitoring his progress.

His return to the Zenit side for the final in the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14 could be pivotal to their chances of defeating Rangers and will go a long way towards atoning for the absence of Pavel Pogrebnyak, the prolific striker whose booking against Bayern means he will play no part in the final.

"A lot of people in western Europe probably haven't seen a lot of Arshavin but he's a very skilful player, good with both feet and is one of the few people in the Russian league who can unlock defences," Harvey added. "The Russian league is not the most creative and the ones who tend to get most of the limelight are the foreign imports.

"The Russians are traditionally strong in defence and midfield but not so good up front. But Arshavin is the exception to that. He's the one Zenit player you could see playing in the big European leagues, in Italy or Spain.

"There was a lot of talk about him going to England earlier on this season during the transfer window and if he puts in another strong performance in the UEFA Cup Final then that will bring him to the attention of many more clubs. Everyone is being quite philosophical about Pogrebnyak missing the game, even the player himself. When he received the fatal yellow card against Bayern he just seemed to shrug his shoulders and get on with it. It's the Russian way."

The Russian mentality is that it is better to travel in hope than in expectation and so Zenit will head to Manchester with little pressure on them to return home with the trophy. Harvey, though, feels they may just shade it over Rangers in a close-fought game. "In general, Russian people don't tend to have a very high opinion of Russian football. People here were very surprised that Russia defeated England in the qualifying group for Euro 2008 last November. The fans never expect their teams to do particularly well.

"The final is a very difficult call. Zenit are a class act and are very good at keeping possession of the ball. From what I've seen of Rangers they seem quite defensive and try to play on the counter so I expect it will be quite a low-scoring affair. I would have to go for Zenit, though, as I think they have a greater ability to create something than Rangers do. But I could see it being 0-0 or 1-1 and then it's anyone's game."