Zenit St. Petersboorg football club has become the only Eastern European team to be included in an annual list of the world's most valuable football brands.

      Zenit is also the first Russian club ever included in the list published by the Brand Finance agency. Its brand value was estimated at $56 million, which gives Zenit St. Petersburg the 41st place in the rankings.

      The most valuable football brand is Manchester United, worth $853 million, which also occupied the first place last year. It followed by Bayern Munich, jumping from fourth with $786 million.  Real Madrid is on the third place with $600 million and Barcelona is the fourth with $580 million.

      The Top-50 is composed with respect to many important sources of income, such as broadcasting rights, ticket and souvenir sales and sponsorship contracts.

      Zenit FC, ranked 20th by UEFA, won a second-consecutive Russian title this season, which allows the team to take part in the Champions League Group Stage next season. Zenit also has the biggest amount of members in the Russian national football team. 

Sources: regnum kp.ru RIA Novosti Image: Wikipedia