Under Dutch manager Dick Advocaat, Denisov blossomed as a player, developing into an advanced midfield role behind Andrey Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov, becoming an influential member of the Zenit squad that won their first Russian Premier League title in 2007. On 3 April 2008, Denisov scored Zenit's fourth goal in their 4–1 first leg defeat of Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup match at the BayArena. Denisov's performances helped Zenit reach the final against Scottish side Rangers on 15 May, after defeating Bayern Munich 5–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. In the final, Denisov played the full ninety minutes and opened the scoring in the 72nd minute after being played in by winger Andrei Arshavin. Zenit went on to win the match 2–0 and lift the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. In the resulting UEFA Super Cup, Denisov played the full ninety again, assisting Pavel Pogrebnyak's headed goal as Zenit upset English heavyweight Manchester United 2–1 on 29 August 2008.