Rzhevski injury adds to BATE burden
Friday, November 7, 2008
Article summary
FC BATE Borisov's dwindling hopes of earning a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League have received another blow following the news that defender Vladimir Rzhevski will be out until 2009 with a broken ankle.
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Unlucky break
The 21-year-old suffered the injury in a collision with FC Zenit St. Peterburg midfielder Igor Denisov in the 58th minute of BATE's 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat against the UEFA Cup holders in Minsk. Rzhevski has played in all ten of BATE's games in Europe this season, and last Friday helped his club to reclaim the Belarussian title, his first Vysshaya Liga success since joining from Finnish side Jakobstad BK. BATE are now bottom of Group H with games against Real Madrid CF and Juventus to come, and are four points adrift of the Spanish champions, who are second in the section.