| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 3. Pontus Wernbloom (90 + 3’) | 7. Cristiano Ronaldo (28’) |
Madrid aiming to heat things up in Moscow
Real Madrid will be out to extend their winning streak in the UEFA Champions League when they visit CSKA Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Whites won all six of their group matches to top Group D, the only team to achieve this in this edition of the competition, and will be looking to start the knockout stage with a good result away from home.
CSKA Moscow finished as the second best team in Group B behind Inter Milan with a record made up of two wins, two draws and two losses.
Both of those losses, suffered against Inter and French side Lille, were recorded at home and that is something that will be a concern for coach Leonid Slutski as they come across a Real Madrid side that has been great on the road this season.
With the Russian league in recess due to the winter break, CSKA have had to rely on playing a series of friendly matches since resuming their preparations in January, with their latest friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk ending in a 2-2 draw.
Madrid, on the other hand, have continued with their good form in the domestic league and on Saturday recorded a 4-0 win over Racing Santander to maintain their lead on top of La Liga.
Tomáš Necid and Zoran Tošić have returned to fitness after long-term injuries, but the Army Men will be without Igor Akinfeev, Keisuke Honda, Mark González and Aleksandrs Cuna, who remain sidelined by injuries.
Midfielder Pavel Mamaev and defender Kirill Nababkin will also miss the first leg as they serve their one-match suspensions.
Angel Di Maria and Marcelo returned to action for Jose Mourinho’s side on Saturday, but the former has been left out of the traveling squad after bruising a muscle during Saturday’s win over Racing.
Lassana Diarra and Hamit Altintop have also been ruled unfit for this clash and have not made the trip to Moscow.
CSKA will have to score at home to get a positive result and for that they will need Ivorian striker Seydou Doumbia to display the kind of form that saw him scoring 12 goals in the last ten competitive games for the Army Men.
Real Madrid have a lot of weapons at their disposal, but a player like Cristiano Ronaldo will relish the chance of warming up a cold night in Moscow with a quick-fire hat-trick.
{message}