So, a terrific 3-1 win for Zenit last night away to Real Sociedad sees them top their Europa League Group. A couple of cracking second-half goals, too, not least Branislav Ivanovic's overhead kick to restore their lead after Sociedad had levelled just before the hour mark. Zenit will now be away in the first leg of the last 32 knock-out tie on 15 February, with the return in St Petersburg a week later.
They go through as top scorers in the entire Europa League group phase with 17 goals (ahead of Sociedad themselves on 16 and Dinamo Kiev with 15). That's a measure of how excellent Zenit have generally looked in this tournament - quite noticeable that they prosper when teams allow them to play. Most of the problems domestically have stemmed from a failure to break down teams that park the proverbial, which seems to be the tactic most Russian opponents now adopt against them.
Anyway, that's now that in terms of competitive fixtures until February because of the winter break. The Europa League last 32 signals the resumption for Zenit, with domestic fixtures starting up again on the first weekend in March.
I don't know exactly what the plans are during their time off, but if they do what they and other leading Russian clubs normally do, they'll give the players about four weeks off to enjoy the festivities, then in January head to sunnier climes for warm-weather training (Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, the UAE and Spain are all perennial favourites). And they'll no doubt play a few friendlies against local opposition and other teams from countries with long winter breaks or summer seasons (i.e. eastern Europe and Scandinavia).
So this is my last regular update for more than a couple of months. I'll post occasionally with news of signings or the winter training camp, plus anything else that happens to put Roberto in the spotlight. In the meantime, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!