CSKA Moscow v Manchester City: 10 Vital Statistics
10. CSKA Moscow have lost their last six Champions League matches including qualifiers. Manchester City are favourites to win at 1.64.
9. The Russians have won their previous six domestic games, and can be backed at 5.50 to win.
8. Manchester City are unbeaten in their last six matches since losing to Bayern Munich in the previous round of fixtures. They are 1.17 to either win or draw in a Double Chance bet.
7. The English champions lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich, meaning they have earned just one point from their opening two European games. Another 1-0 defeat is priced at 15.00.
6. CSKA have lost two of their last six matches in all competitions, with both defeats coming in the Champions League. They are 2.33 to win/draw on the Double Chance.
5. The hosts have been losing at both half-time and full time in five of their previous six Champions League games. City are 2.45 to be winning both at the break and on 90 minutes.
4. The sides met in last year’s group stage too. City won 2-1 run in Russia, a repeat of which is available at 7.50.
3. Manuel Pellegrini’s side then thrashed CSKA 5-2 in the return fixture. An identical scoreline can be backed at 101.0.
2. Sergio Aguero scored twice in both of those games. The striker, who scored four goals against Tottenham last weekend, is 6.50 to score at least twice.
1. Ahmed Musa and Seydou Doumbia both scored twice in a 6-0 win over Kuban Krasnodar last Saturday. The pair are 4.75 and 4.30 respectively to find the net against City.
City dismiss empty stadium advantage
Fernandinho says playing in an empty stadium does not give Man City the edge in their Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow.
No fans will be present as the Khimki Arena on Tuesday as City take on CSKA Moscow in a crucial Champions League Group E game.
CSKA have been ordered to play their next three European home matches behind closed doors as punishment for the racist behaviour of their fans.
The Russian side will therefore not have a partisan home crowd to motivate them but Fernandinho disagrees with suggestions that is to City's advantage.
The Brazilian midfielder said: "I don't think it will be an advantage for us. It is always good when you play away because the fans support their team and it gives you more motivation to play well.
"I don't think this is good for either team or for football."
There are some anecdotal reports of City fans planning to watch from a neighbouring high-rise building, but the English champions will have to go it alone.
Fernandinho has experienced such situations twice before in his career, in Brazil and during his time at Shakhtar Donetsk.
He said: "Fans were banned from the stadium on both occasions and it is different. You have to keep your concentration on the pitch and try to win the game."
City need to win to get their campaign up and running after collecting just one point from their opening two fixtures against Bayern Munich and Roma.
Fernandinho believes City must follow the example of Bayern last month.
In a match that was also played behind closed doors in Moscow, the Germans were not at their best but still emerged with a 1-0 win.
Fernandinho said: "The game looked like a training session and it is very different for the players but the most important thing is that the preparation for the game is very good and the players keep their concentration from the first minute to the last.
"Bayern just did a very professional job and I think that is the way we must approach the game because it is a very important game for us. We must win it."
Pellegrini defends Toure, why Zabaleta isn't confident
Manuel Pellegrini says he’s not worried about Yaya Toure’s lack of form this season.
The midfielder has not been able to rediscover the form he showed as City won the title last time round.
“I don't agree that Yaya has had a bad season. Maybe if you compare his performances this year to last season, when he had a brilliant performance, maybe he just needs time to get back to that level,” said the Chilean.
Pablo Zabaleta says his team are not contenders for the Champions League title.
The Argentine right-back has suggested the side needs time as they learn how to play in Europe.
“No, it takes time, it takes time. We know that we are a team, a club that has been improving these last few years,” he said.
Man City 'very weak' says CSKA's Musa
Striker Ahmed Musa has warned Manchester City that CSKA Moscow are ready to expose the "very weak defence" of the Premier League champions to gain revenge for the defeats of last year.
The Russian side go into this game having lost their first two Champions League games and were defeated on the two occasions they faced the Blues last season.
But Musa, fresh from scoring two in a 6-0 league win on Saturday, reckons City are not as good as they were.
"We're going to use that advantage because in the couple of two games they played they are not that good," he said.
"We know their weak point - they are very weak in their defence - so we are going to try to do our best to work against that.
"We know a lot about them so we are going to try to do our best to fix what was decided last year. We are going to fix it tomorrow."
Asked if City were weaker than Bayern Munich - who CSKA lost to 1-0 in their last game - Nigerian forward Musa said: "Yes, that is true. As you can see they are very weak this year so we are going to try and use that advantage against them.
CSKA did take the lead when the teams met at the Khimki Arena last year when former Manchester United winger Zoran Tosic scored.
But a quickfire double from Sergio Aguero secured the points for City, and they hammered the Russian champions 5-2 at the Etihad.
Manchester City ace is a 'manager's dream', says Souness
Graeme Souness believes Manchester City midfielder James Milner needs to be starting in Tuesday's Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow if the Blues want a win.
Liverpool legend and now-Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has hailed Manchester City midfielder James Milner as a ‘manager’s dream’ ahead of the club’s Champions League match at CSKA Moscow.
Signed from Aston Villa in August 2010 for around £26 million, Milner has made over 150 appearances for the Blues over the past four campaigns, but earned just 12 starts last term under the incoming Manuel Pellegrini.
Having entered the final season of his contract, his future with the Blues had been the subject of much speculation in recent months, but the England international has since experienced an extended run in the line-up in the absence of the injured Samir Nasri, starting the last five Premier League games.
Rumoured to be on the verge of sealing a new long-term deal at the Etihad, Souness believes that the 28-year-old’s underrated qualities are vital to Pellegrini’s side, and stresses that Tuesday's Group D clash against the Russian champions is one in which he cannot be left on the bench like last time out against Roma.
‘In the draw with Roma they ended up chasing the game because they were too easy to play against at the start,’ he wrote in his Sky Sports column.
‘The Italian side turned up expecting a really difficult game and in the first half it was quite easy for them. They didn’t look particularly solid until James Milner came on at half-time to replace Jesus Navas.
‘We’ve consistently seen Pellegrini play two strikers as well as Navas. That’s great if you’re bossing a game, but until you get yourself into that position he doesn’t do enough in terms of working as a proper midfield player.
‘In contrast, Milner has quickly propelled himself into becoming one of the first names on the team sheet, alongside the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. He has turned out to be a proper midfield player and a manager’s dream and can give you that solidity in midfield.’
Man City: Sergio Aguero needs more minutes to match Messi
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero still has work to do to live up to claims that he rivals Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo as the very best in the world, and it involves more than just maintaining his phenomenal strike-rate.
Even before the Argentina international's superb four-goal haul against Tottenham on Saturday, City boss Manuel Pellegrini had described him as a potential Ballon d'Or winner.
Whether or not he is a genuine contender for that prize, Aguero cannot stop scoring - those goals took him joint top of this season's top-flight scoring charts with nine in eight matches.
They also improved his minutes-per-goal ratio, already the best in Premier League history, bringing it down from 114 to just 108 minutes between every strike.
Best minutes-per-goal ratio in Premier League history (since 1992)*
Player Mins played Mins per goal Goals
Data: Opta *for players with 20+ goals
1. Sergio Aguero
6,608
108.3
61
2. Thierry Henry
21,313
121.8
175
3. Ruud van Nistelrooy
12,178
128.2
95
4. Javier Hernandez
4,794
129.6
37
5. Robin van Persie
18,497
136
136
6. Edin Dzeko
6,574
137
48
7. Luis Suarez
9,577
138.8
69
8. Daniel Sturridge
8,078
139.3
58
9. Hernan Crespo
2,813
141
20
10. Alan Shearer
38,183
146.9
260
The telling part of that statistic is not the number of goals Aguero has scored, however, but the number of minutes he has missed.
Aguero has been restricted to just over 60% of City's total Premier League game-time since he joined them for £38m in the summer of 2011.
In that period, the only players to have managed more Premier League goals than him, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez, have played at least 1,800 more minutes - equating to 20 more games.
Top Premier League goalscorers - 2011-12 to present
Player Total goals Minutes played
Data: Opta
1. Robin van Persie
70
8,537
2. Luis Suarez
65
8,475
3. Sergio Aguero
61
6,608
This season, City are belatedly finding out what it is like when Aguero stays fit, and so are the opposition.
So far in the 2014-15 campaign, Aguero trails only Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar in the list of the top marksmen in Europe's leading five leagues - Spain, Germany, England, France and Italy - helping his side into second place, and keeping Premier League leaders Chelsea in their sights.
Best minutes-per-goal ratio in top divisions in England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy in 2014-15
Player League Mins per goal Goals
Data: Opta
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Spain
42
15
2. Neymar
Spain
52.5
8
3. Sergio Aguero
England
58.7
9
4. Papiss Cisse
England
60.3
4
5. Javier Hernandez
Spain
62.3
3
6. Diego Costa
England
65.4
9
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
France
71.8
5
8. Valentin Lavigne
France
72.7
3
9. Carlos Tevez
Italy
73
6
10. Mario Gotze
Germany
81
6
*18. Lionel Messi
Spain
102.9
7
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino had compared watching Aguero to listening to Mozart before his side took on City on Saturday, and the striker's latest virtuoso performance was certainly music to the ears of City manager Pellegrini.
"I am not saying he is one of the best three or four strikers in the world because he scored four goals against Spurs," Pellegrini explained after Saturday's win.
"It is because he has the attributes to be one of the most important players in the world and, when he is 100% fit, he will demonstrate that every game."
Unfortunately, that has been Aguero's biggest problem since former City boss Roberto Mancini signed him from Atletico Madrid.
He is remembered for THAT goal, which won the title for City in dramatic style at the very end of the 2011-12 season, but there have been as many injuries as magic moments.
Sergio Aguero in the Premier League
Season 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Data: Opta
Games played
34/38
30/38
23/38
8/8
Minutes
2,600/3,420
1,941/3,420
1,539/3,420
528/720
Goals
23
12
17
9
Total shots
104
65
72
29
Shot conversion %
22.1%
18.5%
23.6%
31%
Mins per goal
113
162
91
59
Assists
8
2
6
0
Chances created
57
39
35
6
His best run of consecutive Premier League appearances is 18, between October and February in his first season on these shores.
Significantly, he has only played the full 90 minutes in 29 of his 95 Premier League appearances, and has been substituted off 50 times.
Last season was almost typical of his time in England so far - despite calf injuries that interrupted the first half of his season, Aguero had scored 26 goals in 25 games in all competitions by the end of January.
The stage was set for a strikers duel with Liverpool's Luis Suarez, who at that stage had hit 24 in 21 matches, to decide the title.
That was indeed the case, but it turned out to be City team-mate and fellow front-man Edin Dzeko who scored the vital goals that brought the Premier League trophy back to Etihad Stadium.
A hamstring problem ended up ruining Aguero's run-in and he managed to score only twice more before the end of the season.
Injuries also blighted his appearances at last summer's World Cup, where he started as first choice for Argentina but ended up a bit-part player, failing to score in any of his five appearances and coming on as an ineffective second-half substitute as his country lost to Germany in the final.
So, why has this season been different, and how has Aguero stayed injury-free?
A slow start is part of the answer - he only appeared as a late substitute in the first two league games of the season but has started the other eight.
Pellegrini explained: "He had a good pre-season and we did not start him in the first few games so he could get 100% fit. Now he is showing us how he can play.
"Last year, it was not easy for him to play like he did against Spurs when he had so many injuries. Then, he was not 100% fit but, now, I think he is working very well.
"I don't think he will score four goals in every game but I think he will demonstrate why everyone says he is one of the best players in the world."
The Champions League would seem the ideal place to show it. The goals have kept on coming in the Premier League but, so far, Aguero has scored only once in Europe this season - an early penalty in City's disappointing home draw against Roma.
Premier League 2014-15
Shots Shots on target Goals
Data: Opta
=1. Graziano Pelle & Sergio Aguero (29)
1. Sergio Aguero (20)
=1. Diego Costa & Sergio Aguero (9)
3. Lucas Jutkiewicz (20)
2. Diego Costa (16)
3. Graziano Pelle (6)
4. Diego Costa (19)
3. Graziano Pelle (14)
=4. Saido Berahino, Leonardo Ulloa & Diafra Sakho (5)
5. Wilfried Bony (17)
=4. Dusan Tadic. Saido Berahino & Wilfried Bony (10)
If he is to prove himself to be one of the best players on the planet, then City need him to help them beat the elite teams in Europe, starting on Tuesday in the first of two back-to-back meetings with CSKA Moscow.
Last season, Aguero scored four goals in two wins against the same opposition, and netted six times in total to help City get out of their group.
Whether he can manage a repeat performance remains to be seen, but the fact he is fit to take on the Russians and in such fine form is a huge boost in itself.
City get in touch with VK
MCFC have expanded their ever-growing social media presence with the launch of their official MCFC page on VK - Europe’s largest Russian social media network.
Packed with the latest City news, images and videos, the new MCFC VK page has been launched on the eve of the Club’s Champions’ League clash with CSKA Moscow and will give VK’s 270 million users the opportunity to get closer to the Club than ever before.
First introduced in 2006 as VKontakte, which means “in touch”, VK has quickly risen to become the eighth most popular social media site in the world, making it the ideal platform for City to connect with its Russian-speaking fan base.
The move in to Russian social media builds on the success of the Club’s recently launched Russian website http://www.russian.mcfc.com and Twitter account @MCFCRussian.
No stranger to the region, City also boasts a number of Russian speaking stars including Yaya Toure and Fernandinho who played for Metalurh Donetsk and Shakhtar Donetk in the Ukraine.
Commenting on the launch of the new Manchester City VK page, Diego Gigliani, Director of Marketing, Media and Fan Development for Manchester City, said:
“As City’s global community of supporters continues to grow, we are constantly exploring new ways to connect fans to the Club, the players and each other, wherever they live in the world.
“Manchester City enjoys terrific support in Russia and Eastern Europe, so to have a presence on one of their biggest social platforms will enable us to build deeper relationships with our fans in the region.”
Echoing Gigliani’s enthusiasm for the arrival of City’s page on VK, Yaroslav Andreev, Chief Marketing Officer for VK. added:
"We are honoured to not only welcome the English Premier League Champions, but also one of the best teams in the world on to VKontakte.
“We are glad that more and more well-known sports clubs and organisations like Manchester City are choosing VK as the main platform to promote its brand in Eastern Europe. We are confident the Manchester City VK page will be of interest to not only City fans, but football fans in general".
Fans can get in touch with City through VK by visiting http://www.VK.com/MCFC
Manchester United are planning a £20m move to bring Barcelona defender Gerard Pique back to Old Trafford. The 27-year-old moved to the Nou Camp in 2008. (Daily Star)
United will offer Real Madrid's 27-year-old anchorman Sami Khedira a contract worth £5.5m a year to try and beat Chelsea and Arsenal in the queue. (Daily Express)
AC Milan are also interested in Germany international Khedira, while the Italian side could also make a move for 20-year-old Liverpool midfielder Suso. (DSSC)
Defender Rio Ferdinand could be offloaded by QPR in January after six months at Loftus Road. The former England captain, who turns 36 in November, could be replaced by Porto's Rolando, 29, or West Ham's 26-year-old Winston Reid. (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool will compete with Juventus and several Spanish sides for the signature of Porto's 17-year-old midfielder Ruben Neves. (Daily Mirror)
Bayern Munich are to step up their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund's 25-year-old forward Marco Reus, who is also a target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. (Daily Star)
Leeds are pondering a loan move for Slovenian midfielder Josip Ilicic, 26, who has fallen out of favour at Fiorentina. (Tuttomercatoweb)
Former Real Madrid striker Raul, whose last club was Qatari side Al-Saad, is set to sign a deal with North American Soccer League side New York Cosmos. The 37-year-old will also have a role at the club's academy. (ESPN FC)
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said that he would like to manage in Spain one day as he prepares to face Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. (AS)
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Rodgers should drop striker Mario Balotelli for the Champions League group game on Wedensday and play Raheem Sterling up front instead. (DSSC)
Burton Albion boss Gary Rowett is the man most likely to fill the vacant Birmingham City manager's post after Lee Clark was sacked on Monday. (Times)
But the Blues are also keen on former Newcastle and Norwich boss Chris Hughton, although the 55-year-old is awaiting a decision on whether he is wanted by fellow Championship side Fulham. (Sun)
Getting the Olympic Stadium ready for West Ham to use could cost the taxpayer up to £50m more than expected. (Daily Telegraph)
Tottenham playmaker Erik Lamela, 22, believes that Spurs can secure a top-four Premier League finish to qualify for next season's Champions League despite their 4-1 weekend defeat by champions Manchester City. (Evening Standard)
Sunderland winger Will Buckley, 24, denies his side gave up during Saturday's 8-0 thrashing away to Southampton. (Evening Chronicle)
Barcelona's 31 year-old Brazilian defender Dani Alves could be on his way to England to play for Manchester United next season. (L'Equipe)
Real Madrid are looking at Bayern Munich's David Alaba, 22, as a possible replacement for defender Marcelo Vieira if the 26-year-old Brazilian defender decides to leave the club in 2015. (Bild)
Chelsea have hired promising 13-year-old French goalkeeper Nicolas Tie from FC Poitiers. (Le Figaro)
Real Madrid are considering a £22m move for Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj, 19. (AS.com)
Chile international Arturo Vidal has clarified that his relationship with Juventus is very good after reports suggested that the 27-year-old midfielder was fined by the Italian club. (Tuttosport)
Brazilian striker Adriano, 32, is on the verge of signing a deal with French Club Le Havre. (L'Equipe)
Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane, 21, and striker Karim Benzema, 26, have returned to training ahead of the club's encounter against Liverpool on Tuesday. (AS.com)
West Brom tweeted at half-time during their game against Manchester United on Monday: "Fellaini has now taken his tracksuit off, fortunately he has a Man Utd strip on underneath."
United reserve goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard was one of those to take offence at West Brom's tweet, saying it showed "a complete lack of knowledge, class and respect."
Albion responded: "Sorry if a joke about a footballer not having a shirt on under his tracksuit top has caused such outrage. It was not intended as a slur."
Fellaini did his talking on the pitch, scoring a superb equaliser just a few minutes after his arrival into the action.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all turned down the chance to sign Raheem Sterling, 19, before the winger joined Liverpool from QPR for an initial £500,000 in 2012. (Daily Express)
