LM INFO : CSKA Moscow - Man City It sounds unbelievable, but CSKA did not score in six out of last seven games. However, today they see an opportunity to stop this negative series, while City fear this away game with a good reason. Namely, the pitch at Khimki Arena is in horrible condition CSKA’s performance is currently at its worst it has been in the last few years. Last season they took two titles, but this year the team is unrecognizable. They have serious issues in offense, they cannot score a goal. They didnt score in six out of last seven games (in all competitions), which is a terrible performance for a team like CSKA. Now they will be playing against one of the best teams in Europe and they are still in terrible shape. - We will have 11 players out on the pitch and our aim will be to get a positive result. It is a very important game for us and it will make the situation in the group a lot clearer. Neither team will qualify or be eliminated after the game, but it will be crucial in terms of our hopes of making the knockout stage. The third and fourth matches in the group are always key. There is an obvious favorite in our group, so the fixtures between us and Manchester City will decide who qualifies in second place - said CSKA’s coach Leonid Slutsky. Good news for coach Slutsky is his most efficient forward Seydou Doumbia recovered from an injury. He has been absent lately, was never fully prepared, plays one half of the game, but nevertheless, he can also give the opponent a lot of trouble. Midfielder Alan Dzagoev will also be absent, as well as Rasmus Elm and Aleksandrs Cauna, and defender Mario Fernandes. Manchester City have improved their performance lately, they achieved two consecutive wins, and currently occupy fourth place in the Premiership. They were hoping to prevent Bayern from taking the lead in the Champions League, but Bayern have outplayed them already at Etihad, and Pellegrini’s team will have to settle for the second place in this group. CSKA plan to get in their way. - Its not the last match in the group but its a very pivotal, important game for us. The team who win this game will have more of a chance to get through to the next round, but there are still three matches ahead. For us the most important thing is to earn three points - said Pellegrini. Today, he will have to do without Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis and Jack Rodwell. The thing which concerns him the most is the poor state of the pitch at Khimki Arena. CSKA have had a lot of problems with the pitch lately, they played their league games at other venues, mainly at the stadium of the recently dissolved club Saturn, and they played in Petrograd against Viktoria Plzen. Today’s game will be played at Khimki and only one thing is certain - the pitch still looks terrible. - Im surprised because they were not allowed to play the other game here, against Plzen. I think the people from UEFA who reviewed the pitch without hesitation should have said, It cannot be played here.I think it’s unbelievable that the most important cup competition in the world is allowed to be played on this pitch. We must pray on Wednesday that it’s not raining. If it’s raining it will be impossible to play on this pitch. It could be called off. I didnt believe it when I saw the pitch - Pellegrini was shocked. This pitch is in poor condition most of the time, there was some work done, but it didnt help. However, the home team might benefit from this. - I suppose the quality of the pitch is equal to the quality of our latest results. We can hardly beat them on skill - said the coach of the home team Real Madrid - Juventus Real probably played their best game of the season against Malaga, and they are in a great mood prior to the game against Juventus. Although Juventus lost to Fiorentina in the last round, coach Conte is convinced they can win some points against Real. Real have a great weekend behind them. They won against Malaga with ease (the away team goalkeeper Willy Caballero saved Malaga from even heavier defeat) then they saw Barcelona losing points in the game against Osasuna, and the icing on the cake was Atleticos loss to Espanyol. Now they are back in the championship race. They are only couple of points behind the league leaders and in the next round they will have the chance to win points against fierce rivals Barcelona and get back on the very top of the league table. But, before that they will have to face very strong Juventus in the Champions League. - We are convinced we can win against Juventus, and then against Barcelona, too. This probably isnt the crucial week for us, but it is definitely very important. It is clear we are improving, we are performing better with every round, and we couldnt have wished for a better schedule. It is always good to play against the toughest opponents when you are in an excellent form - Cristiano Ronaldo said. - If we win against Juventus I believe we are through to the next round, and that would be a huge success since we are only half way through the group phase. I expect a very strong opponents. They lost their last game in the domestic league, true, but that doesnt really mean much today. One bad performance can happen to everyone and we must be very focused and play our best game against them - Ronaldo added. - Juventus are well-organized team, especially in the defense, and that is their biggest strength. Solid defending is crucial for their fast and dangerous counterattacks. Andrea Pirlo is the player who can always make the difference on the pitch, but they are not kind of team that is dependent on a single player. Great teamwork is one of their biggest strengths. But, if we manage to perform like we did against Malaga I think we should be able to win against them - coach Ancelotti said. Xabi Alonso is still injured and thus unavailable to coach Ancelotti. He is out since the pre-season and, although he did train couple of times with the first team, it is still too early for him to get back to competitive football. Raphael Varane missed the game against Malaga but he will be in the roster for the match against Juve. These two teams have met 6 times on Santiago Bernabeu in the past. Real won 4 times, and Juventus managed to win twice. Juventus arent looking very good this season. Or not as good as they looked last year, that is. They won only two points in the first two rounds of the Champions League (Copenhagen and Galatasaray) and on Sunday they lost to Fiorentina. They were 2 goals in front by the half time (Tevez and Pogba scored) and then they completely disappeared from the pitch in the last half an hour. Rossi scored three goals and Joaquin added the fourth. Fiorentina scored 4 goals in just 15 minutes and that was the confirmation of the fact that Juventuss defense is not as good as they once were. Galatasaray and Milan scored 2 goals each against them, and then, as mentioned, they conceded 4 against Fiorentina. - We have nothing but respect for Real, but we fear no one. We wish to demonstrate we can play against the best teams in Europe. I am not worried after what happened in Firenza. These things happen in football and you have to be prepared for that. I still remember the famous Milan-Liverpool game and many others with incredible twists. We are coming to Bernabeu confident we can play a great match and we are happy to play against such a strong club. They can allow themselves to spend 100 milion euros on a single player, and to earn a lot from selling great players such as Ozil and Higuain - coach Conte said and then added: - Only after the last three fixtures we will know for sure who will proceed to the next round, but we are definitely still remembering the bitterness after the draw against Galatasaray. There is a chance Conte will use 4-3-1-2 formation with Caceres as the full-back and Marchisio as the playmaker. That means Asamoah will probably start the game on the bench. Tevez and Llorente should lead the offense, especially as Quagliarella and Vucinic are out injured. The second (and more likely) scenario is that Conte will use more defensive 3-5-1-1 formation with Tevez as the only striker and Marchisio behind him. Except Quagliarella and Vucinic, full-back Lichsteiner and forward Pepe are also out for todays match. Midfielder Vidal was struggling with an injury in the last round, but he traveled to Madrid and it is expected he will be in the starting line up. Bayern München - Plzen Viktoria Plzen are arriving in Munich in not the best of spirits since they are six points away from Sparta in the home league, and they lost both meetings in the Champions League Out of eleven matches Bayern have played so far in the championship and in the Champions League, they won in nine and scored a draw in two, which is more than a good start to the season. The Bavarians were especially convincing in the Champions League where they celebrated at home against CSKA with 3-0, only to Teach City a lesson in the middle of Manchester with 3-1. - Our situation is very good since weve won all six points, so now we can play without any pressure. We want to continue our streak and ensure the first position in our group as soon as possible - said captain Phillip Lahm. Regarding the match itself, coach Guardiola mentioned that his team wont relax, although many see them as a team who already have nine points stored away: - We wont relax, and well take our opponent seriously. We are aware that many people are already putting those three points in our basket, but we have to prove that on the pitch as well. If we give them time to think, they can be a very good team. But that depends on us - said Bayerns coach Pep Guardiola. Regarding Bayerns team, from the middle of the field towards the offense almost the strongest possible line up will play, but there will be a lot of changes in the defense. For the first time this season we will see the stopper duo Van Buyten-Kirchoff on the pitch, and Rafinha will take the position of the right back, since Lahm will again play the back midfielder. Viktoria Plzen cant be satisfied prior to the hardest possible away match. They lost both matches in the Champions League, while playing on two fronts cost them the home championship as well. The current defending champion are six points behind the leading Sparta after they completely failed in the last round in front of their fans. They had a penalty shot (Horvath missed), but in the end they only took a point from Slavia Praha. In the last seven duels in all of the competitions they scored only two victories (against Jihlava in an away game and in the Cup against the fourth division team Kladno), and their self-confidence is not at its high. - We feel the same as two years ago when we played in Barcelona. We were also then faced with the current champions of Europe. Bayern are one of the best teams of the world and were up for a hard duel. I remember the match in Barcelona when we could have been losing 0-3 in the first ten minutes, but in the end reached an acceptable defeat of 0-2. We will try to reach an even better result than the one in Barcelona, although we know it will be extremely difficult - said coach Vrba in the meeting preview. Strange or not, but because Munich is relatively close, the club leadership decided to go to the match by bus. The trip went smoothly after three and a half hours of driving, and around oneo clock in the afternoon Viktoria reached Munich. - All the teams were defensively oriented against Bayern, and waited for their chance. I only hope Barcelona wont repeat itself when we didnt have any shots on target. The new coach influence is visible because he is forcing them to play on a high pressing against us, so we cant expect an easy match - adds Vrba. If anything can condole him, its the fact that he almost has his whole line up ready and available. Only the injured defender Limbersky is missing. Benfica - Olympiakos In this group PSG are practically number one, while Anderlecht can consider themselves written-off. We can already say that these two teams will decide the second place The win against Anderlecht and the defeat against PSG are the effects with which Benfica and Olympiakos are entering the two head-to-head duels in which they would have to yield a second team for the eight-finals of this group. Benfica must win this match tonight because of the defeat in Paris, as well because of the situation and the fixture in the group in which home points from the match with the direct opponent are considered for the pass. In order to succeed in that, for their eight home European win in a row they will have to raise the level of their game or avoid oscillations. Just as is the case with their biggest rival Porto who are five points ahead of them, Benficas game is below the expected level this season. Because of that Jorge Jesus is the target of many a critique, and mostly from the fans. The hosts coach, Jorge Jesus, doesnt agree that this is a decisive match, but only a very important one in which a win would be a significant step forward in the right direction: - Some of the best clubs are part of this competition, and youre always close to victory as much as you are to a defeat. Olympiakos will be tough opponents to beat. Both us and them have three points, so in this match nothing will be decided regarding further placement, but it would be great to snatch the win here. For that we will need the same game level we had against Anderlecht. He agrees, however, that tonights opponents should decide the second team of this group who will head on. - I wont say that PSG are already the winner of this group, but they have the best placement so its most likely well fight for the second place. Its hard to say how many points will it take to achieve that because in the past weve seen teams with nine or ten points whove been written-off. Benfica have since the match with PSG played only one championship match, in a hard away game against Estorila from where they returned with all three points, and this weekend theyve played in the Cup with a lower division team whom theyve beat with the minimum 1-0. In that match Jorge Jesus brought out players with minimum or no playing time whatsoever in this part of the season, and the good news for the Eagles is the return of Rúben Amorim and Silvio for this match, while the Serbian trio Fejsa, Markovic and Sulejmani will miss the duel against the Greeks, as well as the heavily injured Salvio whose return we shouldnt expect this year. Olympiakos managed to recover after the starting defeat of 4-1 against PSG. In the visiting match against Anderlecht they came to a win of 3-0 thanks to the amazing Mitroglous hat-trick. Mitroglou has this season scored four hat-tricks already, but three of them were in the Greek league where, as it seems, Olympiakos will remain without true competitors. Such results in the home championship will allow them to focus on their European meetings, and theyre in for a very important one tonight against Benfica. - Its not decisive, but we want to win. We are happy and motivated. Our goal is always victory. Benfica have the advantage because they are at home. They are a club with history, always championship contenders, and deserve maximum respect. We have Roberto and Javier Saviola, but much more besides. We also have Greek fighting spirit - said Olympiakos coach Michel, and added: - Its a short tournament, you cannot make plans. After match-day one we were out already and after the second match we have a big chance of qualifying. We are not thinking about first place or second; we think only of going through. Lately he had some trouble with the absences, but players have returned, bit by bit. Avraam Papadopoulos and Lenadro Salino already played on Saturday, back Holebas is expected to return, and the midfielder Paulo Machado is questionable. The only player who will surely miss the match is the left back Gaetan Bong
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:10:50 +0000
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