Yuri Zhirkov was a Zenit St. Petersburg player when he represented Russia at the Euro 2020 tournament this summer. He was oldest player in the Russian squad at the age of 28. The former Dynamo Moscow fullback started the tournament in the Russia starting XI before injury struck.

Ex-Chelsea player Yuri Zhirkov was in the starting line-up for the opening Group B encounter with Belgium who were considered one of the tournament favourites as the number one team in the world. Yuri Zhirkov lasted just 43 minutes before he made way for VyacheslavKaravayev due to injury. He suffered a knee injury during the game and didn’t return before the end of the tournament as Russia crashed out at the group stage.

Russia lost two of their three games in Group B and ended up finishing last on the group table behind Finland, Denmark and leaders Belgium.

In front of their fans, Russia were beaten convincingly by the Red Devils. The Russians were on the end of a 3-0 defeat thanks to two goals from RomeluLukaku. The ex-Inter Milan and Manchester United player scored the first goal of the game inside ten minutes before Borussia Dortmund right-back Thomas Meunier added a second goal shortly after coming on for Timothy Castagne of Leicester City. Meunier came on 27 minutes for Castagne due to a head injury and he went on to double the Red Devils’ lead seven minutes later. Lukaku completed the emphatic victory with his second goal in the final quarter of the game.

Russia bounced back from the big defeat to Belgium by beating newcomers Finland 1-0 thanks to the goal from Atalanta star AlekseiMiranchuk. The win gave the Russians a big lifeline in the quest to qualify for the knockout stage but all the hopes of making the round of 16 evaporated thanks to the heavy 4-1 loss to Denmark in their final group game.