Leverkusen look for qualification ticket at CSKA
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Article summary
Victory in London on matchday four has put Bayer Leverkusen within reach of the knockout rounds and they could qualify if they avoid defeat at CSKA Moskva.
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Article body
Bayer 04 Leverkusen's win in London on matchday four has put them in sight of the knockout rounds and they will qualify should they avoid defeat at PFC CSKA Moskva and Tottenham Hotspur FC lose at AS Monaco FC on the same day.
• CSKA are on two points and will only stay in contention for a top-two finish with a victory.
• In the reverse fixture, the teams' first ever competitive meeting, Leverkusen led 2-0 through Admir Mehmedi and Hakan Çalhanoğlu. CSKA came back strongly when Alan Dzagoev scored, Roman Eremenko levelling two minutes later.
Match background
CSKA
• The Russian side were unable to build on their promising start, losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham in their second fixture.
• They then drew 1-1 at home to Monaco, Lacina Traoré scoring against his parent club. The away game two weeks later brought a 3-0 defeat for Leonid Slutski's side.
• CSKA have lost two of their last three home games in the UEFA Champions League and have won only one of the last ten at home in the competition proper.
• They have also lost their three home games against German visitors in each of the last three campaigns, going down 2-0 against VfL Wolfsburg in Khimki last season and twice against FC Bayern München before that.
• Like Leverkusen, this is the fourth successive group stage campaign for the Russian champions. They will be eager to improve on last season's performance when they finished bottom of their group (W1 D1 L4).
Leverkusen
• They suffered more disappointment on matchday two, leading 1-0 at Monaco until a 94th-minute equaliser.
• They then drew 0-0 at home to Tottenham before recording a notable victory at Wembley after Charles Aránguiz's shot was deflected into the path of Kevin Kampl who sidefooted home.
• With six points, Roger Schmidt's men will qualify if they get a better result than Tottenham manage at Monaco.
• Last season Leverkusen were eliminated in the group stage and went on to reach the UEFA Europa League round of 16 before losing 2-0 on aggregate to Villarreal CF.
• Their record on the road in Europe last season was W1 D1 L4. That solitary win came at Sporting Clube de Portugal in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 (1-0).
• The Bundesliga club last faced Russian opposition in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage when they beat FC Zenit both home (2-0) and away (2-1).
• They also won in St Petersburg in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup quarter-final but Zenit progressed 4-2 on aggregate. Their other two visits to Russia ended in defeat against FC Spartak Moskva.
Coach and player links
• As FC Moskva coach, Leonid Slutski lost to Hertha BSC Berlin in the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup (0-0 away, 0-2 home).
• Traoré appeared as a 90th-minute substitute in Monaco's 1-0 victory at Leverkusen in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage. He scored in Germany for FC Anji in a 1-1 draw at Hannover 96 in a 2012/13 UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie.
• Aleksandar Dragović helped Austria earn a 1-0 home UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying victory over a Russia side containing Igor Akinfeev, Vasili Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich and Alan Dzagoev. Both Dragović and Julian Baumgartlinger played when Austria won the return 1-0 in Moscow; Akinfeev and Berezutski were in Russia's team.
• Dragović and Baumgartlinger faced Pontus Wernbloom in the same qualifying campaign when Austria and Sweden drew 1-1 in Vienna in September 2014.
• Hakan Çalhanoğlu came up against Akinfeev and Vasili Berezutski in Turkey's 0-0 friendly draw with Russia on 31 August this year.
• Dzagoev scored and Georgi Schennikov was sent off when their Russia team lost 2-1 to Kevin Volland's Germany in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship group stage.
• Zoran Tošić spent the second half of 2009/10 on loan at 1. FC Köln in the German Bundesliga.
• International team-mates:
Joel Pohjanpalo & Roman Eremenko (Finland)
Match facts
CSKA
• Eremenko has been suspended for two years after a positive doping control test on matchday one.
• Friday's 1-0 victory at Arsenal Tula ended a run of five games (D2 L3) without a win.
• Fedor Chalov, who has five UEFA Youth League goals to his name this season, made his Premier-Liga debut in the 2-2 draw against FC Amkar Perm on 6 November.
• Zoran Tošić's equaliser against Amkar was his first goal since 31 October 2015.
• Aleksandrs Cauņa is yet to make a competitive appearance this season after ankle surgery in July.
Leverkusen
• Leverkusen had won their last three games prior to Friday's 3-2 home defeat by RB Leipzig.
• Benjamin Henrichs made his Germany debut in the 8-0 victory over San Marino on 11 November in the European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. Volland scored his first international goal in the same game.
• Lars Bender (heel) has not played since 29 October.
• Pohjanpalo (out since 28 September, broken metatarsal) and Vladlen Yurchenko (beginning of September, broken fibula) have resumed full training.
• Karim Bellarabi will be out for the rest of the year having undergone surgery on his right groin in September.