Preview: City looking to bounce back from Bayern defeat
The Citizens were humiliated at their own home when a rampant Bayern Munich thrashed the Etihad side 3-1 in a dominant display. City now face a difficult trip to Russia where they face defending Russian Champions CSKA Moscow.
The Krasno-sinie had to vacate their home the Luzhniki Stadium which is being rebuilt for the 2018 World Cup and have now taken temporary residence of the Arena Khimki where the pitch has been damaged by heavy rain. However a team of UEFA experts which were sent to inspect the pitch have given the go ahead signal and the match will be held as scheduled.
Manchester City’s Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini is looking to bounce back from the disappointing display against defending European champions Bayern Munich but has played down the importance of their humiliating loss to the Bavarians.
"Of course. I don't think that match will decide what happens in the future,” said Pellegrini
"We will try to fight to the end to finish as high as we can in the Champions League and in the Premier League.”
With Czech club Viktoria Plzen unlikely to provide serious opposition, Pellegrini has highlighted the importance of winning their matches against the Russian giants which could allow them to qualify to the next round of the Champions League and avoid a possible showdown against Bayern Munich.
"We're not going to lose in Moscow. These are two important games against CSKA, although I think the one in Russia is more important because if we win there, we have a great chance of taking six points from our next two home games.”
"If we need to win points in Munich we can also do that. It's not impossible to win in Munich - but it's better to have enough points before that game.”
Much of City’s success will be down to their Argentinean star Sergio Aguero who has seemed to rediscover his form after a disappointing campaign last season. The 25 year old scored a sublime brace against West Ham on Saturday scoring his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the league and the former Atlético Madrid man is looking to avoid heartbreak of failing to advance to the second round of the Champions League for the third consecutive season.
"We have to win, don't we? It's an important three points because then we play them at home. We won against West Ham away in the Premier League and now we have to win away in Moscow as well,” Aguero said according to SkySports.
"It was very important to win against West Ham and now we have to keep winning away matches. We have to continue."
CSKA on the other hand have had a disappointing season so far and currently sit sixth in the table in the Russian League having played 13 matches. The Russian giants have just won a single match in their last seven fixtures which was a match against Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
The defending champions are coming into the match on the back of two consecutive losses against Zenit St Petersburg and Dinamo Moscow and will be looking to turn things around when they face a Manchester City side that has a poor record when it comes to the European arena.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, Live scores
Watch CSKA Moscow vs Manchester City live on Wednesday, October 23, 2013:
In Canada at 12:00 ET on Sportsnet World Online, Sportsnet Ontario / East / West / Pacific
In UK at 17:00 BST on Sky Sports 2/HD, Sky Go UK, NOW TV powered by Sky
In USA at 12:00 ET on Fox Soccer 2Go, FOX Deportes, Fox Sports 1
Fans based in Australia can watch the match live on ESPN Australia.
For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the CSKA Moscow vs Manchester City match page.
