Omens good for Lausanne against CSKA
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Article summary
FC Lausanne-Sport will look to add PFC CSKA Moskva to their list of Muscovite scalps in their Group F opener having already beaten their neighbours FC Torpedo Moskva and FC Lokomotiv Moskva.
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FC Lausanne-Sport will look to add PFC CSKA Moskva to their list of Muscovite scalps in their UEFA Europa League Group F opener having already beaten their neighbours FC Torpedo Moskva and FC Lokomotiv Moskva.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition, and this is also CSKA's first competitive game against Swiss opponents.
• Lausanne have a good record in their four games against Russian sides: W2 D2 L0 (W1 D1 L0 at home). They ousted Torpedo from the first round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, and this season the Swiss second-tier side eliminated FC Lokomotiv Moskva from the UEFA Europa League play-offs, prevailing 4-3 on penalties in Moscow following two 1-1 draws.
Match background
• Lausanne are unbeaten in their last seven European games, two wins and five draws.
• The Swiss side have not lost in their last seven continental club competition home games since going down 3-1 to FC Nantes in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup third round.
• CSKA have lost just once in their last five UEFA club competition away games – 1-0 against eventual winners FC Internazionale Milano in last season's UEFA Champions League quarter-finals – recording three 2-1 wins and a 3-3 draw at Manchester United FC.
Team facts
• Lausanne coach Martin Rueda won five caps for Switzerland as a defender, representing Grasshopper-Club, FC Wettingen 93, FC Luzern and Neuchâtel Xamax FC in UEFA club competition. Born to Spanish parents, Rueda led his side into Europe after losing the Swiss Cup final to league champions FC Basel 1893.
• CSKA coach Leonid Slutski's playing career was ended at the age of 19 by a knee injury sustained when the young goalkeeper fell from a tree trying to rescue a neighbour's cat. Having gained experience in youth coaching, he worked wonders in a three-year spell at FC Moskva before leading FC Krylya Sovetov Samara to a sixth-placed finish in 2008, and took over at CSKA the following October.
• Slutsky saw Lausanne at close quarters when they played Lokomotiv in Moscow, and concluded: "They are good defensively and could be very aggressive at home."
