Three-time defending champions Real Madrid head to CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night as they attempt to tighten their grip on top spot in their Champions League group.
Los Blancos were comfortable winners against Roma in their opening tie, placing them two points in front of CSKA and Viktoria Plzen following a 2-2 draw in that other Group G fixture.
CSKA Moscow
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CSKA kicked off their 12th Champions League campaign - a joint-record for a Russian club alongside Spartak Moscow - with an underwhelming four-goal draw against bottom seeds Plzen a fortnight ago.
The Red-Blues would have happily accepted a point when trailing by two goals at the interval, however, with Fedor Chalov striking soon after the restart and Nikola Vlasic then rescuing his side with a late spot kick in the Czech Republic.
That was CSKA's fourth draw in eight outings this season, having also made a disappointing start to their domestic campaign. With nine rounds of matches gone in the Russian top flight, the 13-time champions are down in fourth place, six points adrift of leaders Zenit St Petersburg.
It took Viktor Goncharenko's side four games to get off the mark with their first three-point haul of the season, coming in a home match against Arsenal Tula, but they are left playing catch-up with two-thirds of the season to play.
CSKA failed to make too much of an impact in their last appearance at this level, crashing out in the group stage after finishing behind Manchester United and Basel, and they went on to be eliminated from the Europa League by Arsenal in the last eight.
Goncharenko's side won half of their eight European home ties in 2017-18, but they lost twice in the Champions League group stage and, excluding qualifiers, it is just two wins in their last 11 matches here.
On a more positive front, CSKA are unbeaten against Spanish visitors as they have draw three and won one of their four previous encounters, including a draw against Real Madrid here in 2012. A similar outcome on Tuesday evening and the Russia giants' season will have lift-off.
Recent form in Champions League: D
Recent form (all competitions): DWWDDW
Real Madrid
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Real Madrid entered this season's competition as the three-in-a-row winners and backed by many to repeat the feat for a fourth year in succession, despite losing manager Zinedine Zidane and star man Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer.
Others suggested that motivating his players may become an issue for Julen Lopetegui, the man tasked with filling the void left by Zidane, but the opening-game 3-0 win over Roma two weeks ago suggested anything but.
Los Blancos were at their very best that evening, producing an impressive all-round display that saw them net three unanswered goals through Isco, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz. The only surprise, in fact, was that they did not net more to truly reflect their dominance.
If last season's semi-finalists were made to look average at best by the reigning champions, then you have to fear for both CSKA and Plzen, who are next up for Lopetegui's charges over the next few weeks.
That victory over Roma capped a decent first month at the helm for Lopetegui as, following the disappointment of losing to rivals Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, Los Blancos racked up four wins and a draw, which they followed up with victory against Espanyol.
Since then, however, the Spanish giants have been thrashed 3-0 away to bogey side Sevilla and were held to a goalless draw against Atletico to take the gloss off what had been a positive start to this new post-Ronaldo era.
However, because of Barcelona's own loss of form - just two points from nine for the reigning Spanish champions - Madrid still find themselves right in the title race, behind their arch-rivals on goal difference alone.
All focus now switches back to the Champions League, where the 13-time champions are aiming to extend their record of reaching the semi-finals or better to a ninth year in a row.
Los Blancos have finished second in their group in the past two of those seasons, but victory in midweek will leave them well on course to nail down top spot with games to spare.
Recent form in Champions League: W
Recent form (all competitions): WDWWLD
Team News
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Bale picked up an injury in the Madrid derby stalemate at the weekend and, along with the rested Sergio Ramos, is not part of his side's travelling party for the trip to Russia.
Marcelo is also still feeling the effects of a calf injury sustained in the loss to Sevilla, meanwhile, and Isco was diagnosed with acute appendicitis last week and is facing a spell out.
Lopetegui must once again decide between Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas in goal, with the latter's appearance in the win over Roma suggesting that take on goalkeeping duties in the Champions League.
As far as the hosts are concerned, they have a number of injury problems and could be without as many as seven first-team players at the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Among those on the sidelines is midfielder Kristijan Bistrovic, who underwent ankle surgery in early September and is still some time away from returning, while Viktor Vasin, Konstantin Kuchaev and Aleksandr Makrov are all short of fitness.
Elsewhere, Abel Hernandez and Hordur Magnusson are closing in on a return but will not feature this week, but Khetag Khosonov - the Red-Blues' matchwinner against city rivals Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Super Cup in July - is back in full training.
CSKA Moscow possible starting lineup:
Akinfeev; Efremov, Nababkin, Chernov, Becao, Fernandes; Vlasic, Oblyakov, Bijol; Dzagoev, Chalov
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Navos; Nacho, Vallejo, Varane, Carvajal; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Asensio, Benzema, Vazquez
Head To Head
CSKA's 1-1 draw with Real Madrid on home soil six years ago was one of only two meetings between the two sides in all competitions; the other being Los Blancos' comfortable 4-1 win in the reverse leg of the last-16 tie.
Ronaldo was on target in both fixtures, netting twice at the Bernabeu, while Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain also found a way through.
Madrid have lost on four of their 10 trips to Russia, but they are unbeaten in their last three visits, winning twice.
We say: CSKA Moscow 0-3 Real Madrid
Madrid may be missing a few first-team regulars for this trip to the Russian capital, but they are still rightly considered strong favourites to make it two wins from two in Group G. Lopetegui's charges made a bright start to their latest Champions League title defence with victory over Roma a fortnight ago, and three more points this week will see them on the brink of an early qualification for the last 16.
Daniel Lewis
