The 2011–12 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg season is the 16th straight season that the club will play in the Russian Premier League, the highest tier of football in Russia. The club are the defending champions of both the Russian Premier League and the Russian Cup.

Internationally, the club will participate in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, entering the competition in the group stage as a result of qualifying for the competition as the first place team from Russia.

Following the club's double in manager Luciano Spalletti's first season, Zenit made several moves in the winter. First, the loan deal of former Zenit youth player Anton Sosnin to Krylia Sovetov Samara was made permanent, and Yevgeni Starikov's loan to Tom Tomsk was renewed. Second, after a very successful 14-goal season with Tom Tomsk and Rubin Kazan, striker Sergei Kornilenko made his return to the club. On 14 January, Croatian defender Ivica Križanac, who had been with the club for the past six seasons and appeared in 100 Russian Premier League matches, was released by the club prior to his contract expiring in the summer of 2011.

On 15 January, the club departed for Dubai with 22 players for the first pre-season training session. However, 19-year-old striker Maksim Kanunnikov, who was a popular first-team substitute early in 2010 prior to the arrival of Aleksandr Bukharov, did not make the trip and was loaned to Tom Tomsk on 17 January until July 2012. The club also hosted the annual Commonwealth of Independent States Cup and were represented by youth team players. After qualifying for the knock-out round, Zenit defeated HJK Helsinki 2–1 in the quarterfinal thanks to a double by 19-year-old Stanislav Matyash before being eliminated by eventual champions Inter Baku in the semifinal.

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