CSKA travel to Bavaria to face the might of Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stages tonight.
CSKA were drawn into a group alongside big spenders Manchester City, Czech champions Viktoria Plzen and Tuesday’s counterparts Bayern Munich. To have any chance of progressing, CSKA will feel as though they have to collect maximum points in both ties against Plzen and try to use home advantage to take points off the ‘big boys’.
However, this isn’t to say that CSKA have no chance against Bayern in this opening encounter. The German champions have received a lot of negative press in their performances so far this season, with manager Matthias Sammer publicly criticizing the players after several mediocre showings in the Bundesliga thus far. CSKA, on the other hand, have opened up a 3 point gap at the top of the Russian Premier League table, after a well fought out 1-0 victory against early pace setters Rostov at the weekend.
Injury Concerns
The victory against Rostov at the weekend came at some cost though, with talisman Alan Dzagoev picking up a hamstring injury. This means that he, along with other key players such as Seydou Doumbia, who hasn’t trained with the squad in Munich, will miss this curtain raiser. Other absentees due to injury include Rasmus Elm, Mario Fernandes and Mark Gonzalez.
Tactics
Bayern Munich will most probably line up in a variation of a 4-1-4-1 formation, with key men such as Schweinsteiger and Dante to return to the side after being left on the bench against Hannover at the weekend. CSKA will have serious trouble in dealing with the class and pace of Robben and Ribery who will be operating the flanks with Mandzukic expected to start up front. CSKA will most likely start off in a variation of a 4-2-3-1 with the pace of Ahmed Musa up front, supported behind by Keisuke Honda. It will be interesting to see if Slutsky starts off with young Brazilian talent, Vitinho and Tosic, who started the last game, or whether he opts to bring in new signing Zuber, as Tosic trained aside from his teammates in Munich.
Prediction
It’s difficult to predict anything other than a Bayern victory due to their overall class and squad depth, and with CSKA’s injuries, it does not look promising for the ‘Army Men’. However, an early CSKA goal would really make the natives restless and with a 2000-plus away following, CSKA will be well supported in their quest to upset the odds. I think that the first goal could shape the game somewhat but expect Pep Guardiola’s men to be too strong overall.
Prediction: Bayern 3-1 CSKA
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