It’s a trip to Russia for 13-time winners and current Champions League (CL) holders Real Madrid, as they face CSKA Moskva, a team that’s never lost to Spanish opposition at home (W1, D3). This game will be held at Russia’s national stadium (capacity: 81,000), rather than CSKA’s VEB Arena (capacity: 30,000).The hosts will hope for a better group stage campaign than 2017/18 when they lost two of three games held in Moscow. However CSKA have recorded four wins in their last eight European home games (W4, D1, L3), and did manage a 1-1 draw in their only previous home encounter against Madrid (2011/12 Round-of-16).
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One thing recent CSKA games have guaranteed is first-half action – they haven’t been drawing at half-time in any of their last seven matches (in all competitions).An action-packed first period is something these teams have in common – in Madrid’s three away league games this season, they’ve conceded five first-half goals. Still, the visitors will be confident after beating Roma 3-0 in their CL opener, and in the knowledge that they’ve made it to the competition’s semi-finals or further, for eight-consecutive seasons.