Zenit Saint Petersburg defender Nicolas Lombaerts was delighted to welcome Andre Villas-Boas to the club as the new manager.
The Portuguese was appointed by the Russians on Tuesday afternoon following the sacking of Luciano Spalletti and the arrival of the former FC Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham boss is a massive coup for Zenit according to Lombaerts.
"Villas-Boas as new coach did not come as a surprise to us, but now it is official," the Belgian centre-back told reporters.
"He is a great coach, we have both won the UEFA Cup."
Villas-Boas will watch on when Zenit meet Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday night in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg following last month's 4-2 loss in St Petersburg.
Lombaerts was hopeful of scoring the three goals required but knew it would be a monumental effort to achieve the feat.
"It will not be easy, we will have to win 3-0, but everything is possible in football," he added.
"Conceding four goals is not good, but we have trained hard and we are now more compact and have taken a step forward.
"Dortmund have a really good team. It is not a coincidence that they played in the final last year."
