Group C rivals Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica have entered the break of their Champions League clash goalless after a cagey opening 45 minutes in Russia.

Both sides will need to gamble in the second half or risk being eliminated from the tournament when Monaco visit leaders Bayer Leverkusen later this evening.

An early pattern emerged as Zenit had the majority of possession and Benfica set up to hit them on the break.

Chances were few and far between and it was from a set piece which Andre Villas-Boas's side came closest as Hulk's ferocious free kick was parried by Julio Cesar, and the visitors survived the resultant scramble.

The Portuguese outfit's threat came on the counter-attack and home goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin produced a fine reflex save to deny Eduardo Salvio from Nicolas Gaitan's cross to the back post.

Any flow that the game established in the first 15 minutes was disrupted by six yellow cards and an injury to Nicolas Lombaerts, with Domenico Criscito perhaps lucky to escape red for a lunge on Salvio.