CSKA Moskva v Plzeň facts

CSKA Moskva need a repeat of the home victory they enjoyed against Viktoria Plzeň the last time the clubs met in Russia to stay in contention in UEFA Champions League Group G.

• The Russian club recovered from 0-2 down to salvage a point in the Czech Republic on matchday one, Michael Krmenčík having struck twice for Plzeň before half-time. Fedor Chalov brought CSKA back into contention early in the second half, Nikola Vlašić earning a draw with an added-time penalty.

• That represents Plzeň's only point in the section, with CSKA in third place on four having achieved a notable scalp in beating Real Madrid in their first home game. Madrid and Roma nevertheless have nine points and CSKA must win to stay in contention for a top-two finish; Plzeň must avoid defeat and a low-scoring draw to have any hope of finishing third.

Previous meetings
• Plzeň were paired with CSKA in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage, losing 3-2 in Moscow but winning 2-1 at home on matchday six to finish third in the section and earn a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 at their opponents' expense. Daniel Kolář scored the Czech club's opening goal in the home game, Pavel Vrba's last in his first spell as Plzeň coach.

Form guide
CSKA
• Having salvaged a point at Plzeň on matchday one, CSKA built on that result as Vlašić got the only goal, in the second minute, to defeat Real Madrid in Moscow. However, two losses to Roma (0-3 away, 1-2 home) have left the Russian club lagging in the standings.

• This is CSKA's 12th UEFA Champions League campaign, equalling the Russian record previously held alone by Spartak Moskva.

• In 2017/18 CSKA finished third behind Manchester United and Basel in their UEFA Champions League section, going on to beat Crvena zvezda and Lyon in the UEFA Europa League before losing to Arsenal in the quarter-finals (1-4 away, 2-2 home).

• The Russian club won four of their eight European home games in 2017/18 (D1 L3), although they lost two of three in the group stage.

• Excluding qualifying ties, and despite the win against Madrid, CSKA have won only three of their last 13 European home fixtures (D4 L6).

• CSKA have won two of their three home games against Czech visitors although the most recent such contest ended in a 2-2 draw with Sparta Praha in August 2015. The 2013 defeat at Plzeň is their only reverse in seven encounters against Czech clubs, home and away (W3 D3).

Plzeň
• Having been pegged back by CSKA, the Czech champions went down 5-0 at Roma on matchday two to equal their largest European defeat. They were then beaten 2-1 at Real Madrid before a 5-0 loss to the holders in the Czech Republic, Plzeň's heaviest home reverse in UEFA competition.

• Plzeň's 2011/12 and 2013/14 UEFA Champions League seasons both ended in the group stage after starting in the second qualifying round. This is the first time they have automatically qualified for this stage.

• In 2017/18, the Czech club lost to Romania's FCSB in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (2-2 away, 1-4 home). They went on to finish top of their UEFA Europa League section and beat Partizan in the round of 32, before losing to Sporting CP in the last 16 (0-2 away, 2-1 home aet).

• Plzeň's 2-0 victory at Hapoel Beer-Sheva on matchday six of last season's UEFA Europa League group stage is their only win in their last 17 European away fixtures (D6 L10).

• The Czech club have lost all but one of their eight away games in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Their sole success was a 1-0 victory at BATE Borisov in November 2011.

Links and trivia
• CSKA coach Viktor Goncharenko was in charge of the BATE Borisov team that Plzeň took four points off (1-1 away, 1-0 home) in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Vrba was in charge of Russian club Anji in 2016, with current Plzeň assistant Dušan Fitzel working alongside him again.

• Plzeň captain Roman Hubník and Kirill Nababkin were FC Moskva team-mates between 2007 and 2009.

• Alan Dzagoev scored twice for Russia in a 4-1 defeat of the Czech Republic in the UEFA EURO 2012 group stage; Hubník played 90 minutes with Milan Petržela coming on as a substitute.

Latest news

CSKA Moskva
• On 27 July CSKA beat city rivals Lokomotiv 1-0 to win the Russian Super Cup, Khetag Khosonov scoring the extra-time winner.

• CSKA ended a four-game winless streak in all competitions (D1 L3) with a 2-0 home success against Zenit on 11 November, only their second victory in eight matches (D2 L4).

• The Moscow club were 2-0 winners away to Akhmat Grozny on Friday, Hördur Magnússon opening the scoring with his first CSKA goal.

• Fedor Chalov is the Russian Premier League's top scorer after 15 games with nine goals.

• Ilzat Akhmetov was called up by Russia for the first time, but missed the training camp ahead of this month's matches against Germany and Sweden with a shoulder injury and was also absent for CSKA's weekend game.

• Mário Fernandes also missed Russia's internationals because of a head injury but recovered to play 90 minutes at Akhmat.

• Kirill Nababkin started against both Germany and Sweden, his first appearances for Russia since February 2013.

• Nikola Vlašić came on as a substitute in Croatia's 3-2 UEFA Nations League victory against Spain on 15 November and provided an assist in a 2-1 loss against England three days later.

• Árnor Sigurdsson made his debut for Iceland in their 2-0 defeat by Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on 15 November; Magnússon also started that match in Brussels.

• Sigurdsson missed the Akhmat win having picked up an ankle injury on international duty.

• Konstantin Kuchaev made his first appearance of the season on Friday having recovered from a knee injury.

• Kristijan Bistrović returned as a late substitute against Zenit on 11 November, his first appearance since ankle surgery on 5 September. Viktor Vasin is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury suffered in February. Aleksandr Makarov is back in training after recovering from his own cruciate problem.

Plzeň
• Plzeň have won only two of their last eight matches in all competitions (D3 L3); they needed an 84th-minute Jan Kovařík goal to draw 1-1 at Slovan Liberec on Friday.

• Fourteen of Plzeň's 23 league goals this season have been scored in the last 30 minutes of games – including eight in the final 15.

• Michael Krmenčík injured his knee ligaments in the 2-1 defeat of Slovácko on 28 October; he has undergone surgery and is not expected to play again this season.

• Daniel Kolář (out since 2 October) has had surgery on his Achilles tendon and is likely to be out for the rest of the season.

• Plzeň have announced that French forward Jean-David Beauguel will join from Zlín in January.

• The club's official shirts for the UEFA Champions League group stage feature a logo promoting the Czech national bone marrow donors register on the back. All Plzeň's senior and Under-19 players have joined the register.