Zenit St Petersburg's stunning 4-0 victory over German giants Bayern Munich in their UEFA Cup semi-final earned them praise from the winning and losing coaches.

"We were a much better team than them," was the verdict of Zenit boss Dick Advocaat after the second-leg rout gave his team a 5-1 aggregate victory and a place in the May 14 final against Rangers.

"Bayern are one of the best teams in Europe, but tonight we outplayed them technically and tactically, were much sharper in front of the goal, so all the credit should go to our team, to the boys," he said.

Ottmar Hitzfeld was equally impressed.

"Zenit played a great game and deserved to win," the Bayern coach said.

"Tonight, they probably played the game of their lives."

Hitzfeld was left to rue missed chances despite his team enjoying the lion's share of possession in the first half.

"We had a chance in the first minute but didn't take it," he said.

"When they had a chance, they scored. Then we wasted another chance and they scored their second goal."

Asked why Bayern were so good in Sunday's 4-1 defeat of VfB Stuttgart to close in on a 21st Bundesliga title but could not manage even one goal against the Russians, Hitzfeld said:

"Obviously, Zenit are a better team than Stuttgart."

The German said Zenit are now favourites to lift the trophy at the City of Manchester Stadium in England.

"Any team that beats Bayern 4-0 must be the favourites."

Advocaat defended his decision not to take off Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who is prone to picking up yellow cards, after he had scored the last goal in the 73rd minute.

The Russia international, who scored the first and last goals, will miss the final through suspension after being booked late in the second half.

"I had to keep the strongest team on the pitch because you can never count Bayern out," Advocaat said. "We all know what happened in their match against Getafe."

Bayern scored twice in the last five minutes of extra time in their quarter-final second leg in Madrid for a 4-4 aggregate draw that put them through on the away goals rule.

Reuters