Football and Russia have a penchant for revolutions. The only certainty in the old ball game is that a new ball game is on its way. That applies as much outside the Winter Palace in St Petersburg as it does for the Blue Clydesiders of Rangers. The background to the UEFA Cup final of 2008 between Zenit and the Ibrox club contains a mixture of history, politics and finance that shows that football is not immune to the forces of the outside world.

The clash in a wonderfully vibrant City of Manchester Stadium could have been labelled as the Red Guard v the Blue Bloods, if only by Don King after he accidentally mistook a fat spliff for his normal cigar. It was, however, an authentic collision between those who want to impose the new order and the last bastions of the aristocracy.

The history of Zenit is as short as a Scottish summer. The history of Rangers is as long as a Russian winter. There is some confusion as to when Zenit came into being, with some suggesting 1914 or 1925. The first recorded use of the term Zenit St Petersburg, however, was in 1936. Walter Smith has centre-halves who are older. Rangers' history traces back to 1873. It is a lineage adorned with the baubles that football bestows. There is European silverware in the cupboard and domestic trophies are expected as some sort of of royal prerogative.

But in Manchester the Russians were installed as the favourites. There was one reason for this: money. One may witter about tactics. One may indulge into an endless discussion of the merits of individual players.

But all this and more depends on money.

Smith, the Rangers manager, is a cautious coach, but his reliance on 4-5-1 was predicated by the necessity to build a durable side on limited resources. Dick Advocaat, on the contrary, is never far from a wad of the chairman's cash. His profligacy, ironically, contributed to Smith's limited options last night.

This was a game where class and cash eventually told. The formidable half-back line of social pressure, perestroika and oligarchy has pushed Zenit St Petersburg from the back-waters of football to a European final. They can pay e15m for Anatoliy Tymoschuk, a holding midfielder who prompted and prodded his side into action last night.

They may, however, struggle to hold on to Andrei Arshavin, a midfielder who commands a £10m price tag. This Russian is a product of the Zenit school. He learned his lessons well.

He posed the first danger to the old order last night by drifting inside and firing a shot narrowly wide. This was his first significant moment of the first half. His second, when he found room wide left, could have produced a penalty when his cross hit the hand of Kirk Broadfoot. The referee imperiously waved away claims from the Zenit masses. This is not to suggest that Arshavin ruled the match, merely that his touches were always dignified, occasionally influential. And once fatal to Rangers' hopes.

If his first shot was threatening, his intervention in the second half should have been wounding to Rangers. Racing after a long clearance and skipping past a rash Neil Alexander, he chipped the ball towards goal with an insouciance hardly befitting such a serious occasion. Sasa Papac stooped to nod the ball off the line. The Zenit maestro's moment, however, was only delayed. His through ball to Igor Denisov, who finished with an impressive certainty, would only have increased his value to a court of suitors, many of them English. This, after all, in modern football is where the real money is.

Arshavin's counterpart in the Rangers ranks is Barry Ferguson. If Arshavin will command millions in a transfer fee, Ferguson is the Sun King in the dusk of his career. This is not to suggest that he is about to abdicate any time soon, but it is to bow to the reality that he is nearer the end than to the beginning of his reign.

He was overshadowed last night in the Rangers midfield by the proletarian values of Kevin Thomson who showed an aptitude for honest toil and capacity for the shuddering tackle. He was lucky to escape censure for an early challenge, but was strong and capable for Rangers throughout.

Ferguson had moments when he could have put his signature on the match. Early in the first half, he just failed to reach a cross by Jean-Claude Darcheville. In the second, during Rangers' only spell of prolonged pressure, he clipped the ball beyond a scrambling Vyacheslav Malafeev and into an on-rushing Radek Sirl. There were cries for a penalty, but they were ignored by Peter Frojdfeldt.

Zenit, and Arshavin, then tried to enforce the Russian revolution with a killer goal. The playmaker laid on a chance for Konstantin Zyrianov, but this was wasted. The Russians were in the ascendancy and Smith threw on the last of his reinforcements in the shape of Nacho Novo, Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd. But Zenit were not forced to man the barricades.

Indeed, Aleksandr Anyukov should have rendered the result beyond doubt when put in the clear as Rangers tried to salvage something from a night when their power was overwhelmed by skill.

Zyrianov's second goal was almost a cruel irrelevance. Rangers battled on gamely. There was no surprise in that. But the power of class told. There should be no surprise in that, either.