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UCL PREVIEW: CSKA, Roma, City jostle for knockout place in Group E

December 10, 2014 8:47 am

CSKA Moscow visit Group E winners Bayern Munich needing a first win in Germany and a helping hand from elsewhere if they are to secure a place in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League (UCL).

After their 1-1 draw with Roma last time out, CSKA sit level on five points with the Italian side and Manchester City.

To secure second place they require three points against Bayern and a draw or City win in the group’s other game in Rome.

Roma are looking to reach the UCL’s latter stages for the seventh time, City for the second year running.

Roma will qualify with a win and will also advance if they draw and CSKA hold Bayern. If CSKA lose, Roma will progress with a goalless draw but not a score draw.

City must win and hope that CSKA do not, or get a score draw and hope CSKA lose. If they lose, they are out of Europe altogether.

In Group G, Sporting Lisbon climbed into second place on match day five and are well placed to take the section’s second qualifying spot behind Chelsea.

But both Maribor and Schalke 04 need three points from their final game in the group as well.

Schalke have a fight on their hands to maintain their recent record of qualifying for the knockout rounds and must defeat Maribor and hope Sporting do not beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to stand a chance of finishing second.

Below are match backgrounds to Wednesday’s key games.

BAYERN V CSKA

Narrow winners against CSKA in Moscow on match day two (1-0), Bayern are already guaranteed first place and their seventh successive appearance in the knockout stage.
Bayern’s home record against Russian visitors is W4 D3 L1. That solitary defeat came against Lokomotiv Moscow (0-1) in the first round of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup; they won the second leg 5-0 in Russia en route to winning the trophy.
CSKA achieved their first win on English soil when beating City on match day four and now need to repeat the feat in Germany, where their record is W0 D0 L3.
Prior to last season’s defeat in Munich, CSKA had suffered UCL group stage defeats at Hamburger (2-3) in 2006/07 and VfL Wolfsburg (1-3) in 2009/10.

ROMA V CITY

Roma have gone from one extreme to another in their Group E home games, beating CSKA 5-1 on match day one but then losing 7-1 to Bayern on match day three – their joint heaviest defeat in UEFA competition.
Roma have won their last three home matches against Barclays Premier League opposition.
Roma’s last UCL home meetings with English sides came in 2008/09. Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi played in the 3-1 home win over Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in the group stage.
Roma lost the 1984 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final to Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.
City have never won in Italy where their record is W0 D2 L2.
City’s most recent victory, home or away, against an Italian team was the 3-0 triumph against Milan in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup third round, which secured a 5-2 aggregate success.

CHELSEA V SPORTING

Chelsea have won their last seven fixtures against Portuguese clubs, all by a single-goal margin.
Their previous victory came against Benfica in the 2013 UEFA Europa League final when Branislav Ivanovic’s header in the last minute of added time earned a 2-1 win at the Amsterdam ArenA.
The 2012 UCL winners made it to last season’s semi-finals, beaten by Atletico Madrid 3-1 at home after a 0-0 draw away.
Chelsea are already assured of first place, making this the ninth time in their last 12 campaigns that the Blues have won their group. They qualified as runners-up in two other years, being eliminated in the group stage as holders in 2012/13.
Jose Mourinho lifted the UCL with Porto (2004) and Inter (2010) and is bidding to become the first coach to win the European Cup with three different teams.
Chelsea’s win on September 30 ended Sporting’s 16-match unbeaten home run in Europe. Their last visit to England resulted in a 3-2 defeat at Manchester City in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 16, although they still progressed after a 1-0 home win.
Their four previous away games against Premier League sides have resulted in three defeats and a draw.
Sporting’s 20 previous games against English sides have ended W9 D3 L8 (W2 D2 L6 in England).
Sporting have won only once in their last 17 European away games, 2-0 at FC Zurich in that 2011/12 campaign. Their record in that run has been W1 D6 L10 and of their last seven group away games, six have been lost and one drawn.
Should Schalke not win at Maribor, Sporting will reach the knockout rounds regardless of the Stamford Bridge outcome.

MARIBOR V SCHALKE

The Slovenian side are out of the UCL but will finish third, at Schalke’s expense, with a victory. Anything less would leave them fourth, the same as their only previous group stage appearance in 1999/2000.
Maribor have not won any of their five European encounters with German opponents. Apart from the September 30 meeting they scored in only one: a 2-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup second round. They played out 0-0 draws in the home leg and also at Bayer Leverkusen in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League first group stage.
Maribor won two and drew one of their three home games in qualifying, and have also drawn 1-1 at home to Sporting and Chelsea in the group stage.
The Slovenian title holders are unbeaten in seven home European games, since a 1-0 loss against SV Zulte Waregem in the UEFA Europa League group stage in December 2013. Their home record since is W3 D4.
In their previous UCL group stage appearance, Maribor finished in fourth place with four points, winning 1-0 away against Dynamo Kyiv and drawing 0-0 at Leverkusen.
Schalke’s first two games in Group G both ended 1-1.
A 4-2 defeat at Sporting on match day four means Schalke have not won in five away games, since a 1-0 success at Basel on match day two last season. Their record since is D2 L3.

THE FIXTURES

Group E

Bayern Munich v CSKA

Roma v Man City

Group F

Ajax v Apoel

Barcelona v PSG

Group G

Chelsea v Sporting

Maribor v Schalke

Group H

Athletic Bilbao v BATE