Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk feels the effects of Champions League win with FOUR ice packs strapped to his legs

• Zenit St Petersburg beat Valencia 3-2 at the Mestalla on Wednesday night 
• Hulk scored twice, but was feeling the effects straight after the game 
• He was pictured with four ice packs strapped to his legs in changing room 
• Andre Villas-Boas says Zenit's game-plan worked on the night 

By Ben Nagle for MailOnline

Published: 07:12 EST, 17 September 2015 | Updated: 11:06 EST, 17 September 2015

Hulk lived up to his name on Wednesday night as he powered through 90 minutes to help Zenit St Petersburg record an impressive 3-2 victory over Valencia in the Champions League.

But it appears the Brazil striker was feeling the effects shortly after, with pictures emerging of him wearing FOUR ice packs on his legs post-match.

He scored twice in Zenit's win in Spain, and began his recovery immediately after the final whistle, if goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev's pictures are anything to go by.

Zenit striker Hulk recovered after his side's Champions League win with four ice packs on his legs

Hulk played the full 90 minutes of Zenit's opening Champions League match against Valencia at the Mestalla

It is not quite the high-tech recovery formula professional players are used to, but it seems to have done the trick for Hulk on Wednesday night.

After the match, Zenit boss Andre Villas-Boas was full of praise for his team, and admitted their game-plan paid off at the Mestalla.

Valencia dominated possession with 62 per cent, and had 15 shots on goal to Zenit's seven, but former Tottenham and Chelsea man Villas-Boas says that was all part of the plan. 

'We played well, although we let Valencia have most of the possession. That was our strategy - to counter-attack.

'That is how we got our three goals. The result is fair. To have a lot of the ball in football does not necessarily mean a lot. That can work during a match and today we were fortunate to win the game using this strategy.

'We did not have the majority of the possession, but when we had the ball we did well.'

Zenit St Petersburg players celebrate with Hulk after he scored past Jaume in the Valencia goal

The 29-year-old netted his seventh goal of the season in his side's opening European match of the season

Comments (33)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now