CSKA Moskva vs PSV
Without Andres Guardado and Luuk de Jong, PSV Eindhoven will be looking to win its second game of the UEFA Champions League in Moscow against CSKA Moskva. The reigning champions of the Eredivisie have a tough test on the road if they want to make it happen and with a two-game winning streak they do believe its possible.
PSV started out in this tournament by beating Manchester United 2-1 with goals from Hector Moreno and Luciano Narsingh. It was PSV's former striker, Memphis Depay who put Man United in the scoreboard. A big change of momentum in that game came when Hector Moreno injured Luke Shaw just 15 minutes into the game. Besides that, PSV was able to diminish the danger in most of the Red Devils opportunities.
According to some former PSV players, this is the time for young talent like Steve Bergwjin and Jurgen Locadia to prove they are capable of business despite their young age (17, 21). The team knows they must not depend on one or two player like the ones that are absent, but know to work with what they have instead.
In the only two games amongst both teams, it is PSV who has always come out on top. Both of those games were played in 2007, also as group rivals in the Champions League. This is actually the first time that the game will be played in Moskva's stadium, as the one in 2007 was played in neutral grounds.
The home side needs a win if they don't want to lose more ground on the rest of their rivals. Right now they are tied with the Red Devils at the bottom of Group B without any points and a goal difference of -1. It was Wolfsburg who beat them 1-0 in the opening UCL game this season.
The team is coming off a 1-1 draw with Lokomotiv. They are still unbeaten in the Russian League and are five points ahead of Lokomotiv which is actually in second place. Leonid Slutski, Moskva's coach, is not overconfident about this game despite the important absences in Phillip Cocu's team.
"Certainly we're not going to underestimate a team who beat Manchester United,'' Slutski said. "It would be foolish to underestimate any opponents in the group stage of the Champions League.''
The team knows that while some veterans are not playing at their usual skill level in PSV, those young guns could try to make a difference for their team. Therefore, they have to be cautious of how they set up the strategy against a team that has earned 14 points in their last seven league games.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Paris Saint-Germain
There are not anecdotes of a match between both sides as this will be the first time that the two teams face each other. The Ukranian side hosts a PSG that is on fire and that with Angel Di Maria playing at a high level, is almost impossible to stop.
Laurent Blanc comes in with his team as the favorite to win the match. After beating Nantes 4-1 in their most recent Ligue 1 game, the Paris-based team looks forward to a third straight victory. In their last game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Di Maria and Edinson Cavani all got the chance to score, so their confidence is pretty strong by now.
The team opened their participation in this year's Champions League season with a 2-0 win at home over Malmo at Parc des Princes. Both Di Maria and Cavani were responsible for the goals scored by Blanc's team. The best news for the French side is that none of their players are suspended or injured for today's match.
On the other side, Shakhtar Donetsk had a rough season opener against Real Madrid. Los Merengues beat the Ukranian team 4-0 but still hope they can make up for lost ground and get out of the group stage and into the playoffs. In only three of their last 16 games at home, Shakhtar has been beaten by their opponents.
Their coach, Lucescu has studied the firepower that PSG counts with. He knows that they can't focus all their attention on one player, as their upcoming rivals have many options to diversify their attacks. When it's not Zlatan, either Cavani, Di Maria or any other player could step forward to make things happen for PSG.
"I don't agree that Edinson Cavani is in the shadow of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ángel Di María. Cavani is the team's attacking engine," Shakhtar's coach claimed.
Their loss against Real Madrid was the only one they suffered in their last six games. The team believes that was just a small bump in the road and they are ready to start adding points before things get tougher in Group A.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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