Champions League
2012-02-21 - CSKA Moscow vs Real Madrid
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Champions League, Last 16 First Leg
Tuesday 21 February 2012 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow may not have played a competitive game of football since the last game of the group stages in the Champions League and this is surely one of the toughest tests they could have faced as they meet the current leaders of La Liga and second favourites to win the competition.
The team will renew their domestic campaign in a couple of weeks time and will be looking to make up the 6 point difference between them and top of the table Zenit St. Petersburg. CSKA will also look to take inspiration from their domestic rivals who beat Benfica last week in their First Leg of the last 16 at home. CSKA qualified for this stage of the tournament after finishing behind Inter Milan but ahead of Lille and Trabzonspor in the group stages, although they were only 1-0-2 here.
Despite not playing a competitive game since December, CSKA have taken part in 6 friendly matches since the turn of the new year in anticipation of being ready for this one. Interestingly, they did lose their last 2 home games in all competitions, while they have lost 3 of their last 4 home games in the Champions League.
Tomas Necid should be able to make his first start of the season after recovering from knee problems, although Keisuke Honda looks set to miss the game. Igor Akineev and Mark Gonzalez are both still absent.
Real Madrid
Jose Mourinho is in the driving seat to once again help Real Madrid become Champions of Spain, but he would dearly love to add another Champions League to his CV to prove his dominance over Barcelona who have received all the plaudits over the last few seasons. This will be seen as more than a winnable tie to set them on their way to Munich in May.
Real Madrid have a 10 point lead in La Liga and look set to win the title for the first time since the 2007/08 season. With the League firmly in hand, that gives Real all the opportunities to concentrate fully on winning the Champions League for the first time since 2002. They topped a group consisting of Lyon, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb, winning all 6 games and keeping clean sheets in 5 of those wins.
They come into this game having won 5 of their last 6 games in all competitions, the only exception being a 2-2 draw at Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey. Real have been fantastic away from home, winning 12 of their last 13 in all competitions, and much of their success has been built on a solid foundation that has seen them keep clean sheets in 10 of their last 14 away games.
Angel Di Maria made his first appearance of 2012 on Saturday, but suffered a knock that has ruled him out of the trip to Russia. Hamit Altintop and Lassana Diarra are both also absent.
Head to Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid.
Prediction
We are expecting minus temperatures in Moscow on Tuesday evening as Real Madrid will travel East in the expectation of picking up a positive result that should make the game at the Santiago Bernebeau that much more comfortable in the Second Leg.
Jose Mourinho has made his team much harder to beat away from home in the competition since he came to Madrid, and they are unbeaten in all 9 games they have played on their travels since he took over as manager. They have won 6 of those games, keeping clean sheets in each of those wins and the fact is that they have only conceded goals to sides like Milan, Barcelona and Lyon.
He also has history here, leading Inter Milan to a 0-1 win here in the Quarter Final in 2010 enroute to winning the Champions League that season.
CSKA Moscow rely on a solid defence at home and I can't imagine that they will want to open themselves up too much against the pace and power this Real Madrid side have.
The Russian side have struggled against the better sides they have come up against in the Champions League, and have lost in the knockout stage here to Manchester United and Inter Milan in the past without scoring a goal.
Real Madrid's away record in the Champions League since Jose Mourinho took over as manager has to be respected, winning 6 of 9 games and all coming with a clean sheet to boot.
Add to the fact that Real Madrid have 10 clean sheets from their last 14 away games in all competitions, and the 2.38 offered at Coral that they win to nil has to be taken.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
CSKA Moscow 0-2 Real Madrid
