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CSKA look to hammer final Lille nail

PFC CSKA Moskva will look to end LOSC Lille Métropole's round of 16 hopes in Group B, but having missed their original flight to Moscow, Rudi Garcia's side are finding strength in adversity.

Vágner Love is expected to deputise for CSKA's suspended top score Seydou Doumbia
Vágner Love is expected to deputise for CSKA's suspended top score Seydou Doumbia ©Getty Images

Without suspended top scorer Seydou Doumbia, PFC CSKA Moskva coach Leonid Slutski is confident Vágner Love can fill the void in the Group B game against LOSC Lille Métropole. The French side missed their original flight to Moscow because of fog, but Rudi Garcia hopes they will find strength in adversity.

CSKA Moskva
Coach Leonid Slutski

Both teams need a victory so will probably be aggressive from the beginning. The French team will try to attack with great force; we have no choice either. The main difference from the first game will be in terms of the lineup; [Zoran] Tošić and [Seydou] Doumbia, who played in the first game, won't feature, so we will see new players who did not play in France.

This means a change of tactics and only tomorrow will it be clear if that is good or bad. Doumbia has been our main goalscorer this season but we also have Vágner [Love] and other forwards, and they are capable of scoring and creating goals. It will obviously be difficult to play without Doumbia, but it does not affect our determination to get the victory.

Vágner does not usually struggle for form physically. His game is affected more by his mood and emotions. I think he understands perfectly what responsibility lies with him, and I am sure he can handle it.

Weekend result
Friday: CSKA 1-2 FC Rubin Kazan (Doumbia 37pen; Kasaev 16, Ryazantsev 61)

Gabulov; V Berezutski, Ignashevich, A Berezutski, Nababkin; Aldonin (Šemberas 81), Mamaev, Honda, Cauņa (Oliseh 72), Dzagoev; Doumbia

• Doumbia missed a second-half penalty as CSKA's seven-match unbeaten run ended. The striker had earlier converted from the spot, taking his tally to 24 goals.

Team news
Keisuke Honda (knee) and Sekou Oliseh (hamstring) returned against Rubin, while Viktor Vasin (cruciate ligament) and Georgi Schennikov (thigh) were unused substitutes. Tošić (knee), Igor Akinfeev (cruciate ligaments), Tomáš Necid (knee) and Mark González (hip) are all sidelined and Doumbia suspended after his red card against Trabzonspor AŞ.

Lille
Coach Rudi Garcia

We've had to adapt. This morning [Monday] we had a meeting at Domaine de Luchin [their training base] and this meant we could at least carry out our preparation for Tuesday evening's game. Tomorrow morning, depending on the traffic in Moscow, we'll go and see the stadium, and if not we'll have to see it for the first time right before the game.

We have our backs to the wall. We've no other option – we have to win, so we know the kind of performance we have to come out with. I've the feeling the players are going to produce it and that they'll be even more motivated by what's in store, rather than inhibited by the pressure. Anyway, we aren't under pressure because we shouldn't even be alive still in the competition, but we still are.

We're treating this match like a semi-final, a one-off match, knowing we have only 90 minutes to make a difference.

Weekend result
Friday 18 November: Toulouse FC 0-0 LOSC Lille Métropole

Landreau; Béria, Chedjou, Rozehnal, Bonnart; Mavuba, Gueye, Balmont; Cole (Hazard 65), Sow (De Melo 73), Payet (Rodelin 87)

• Moussa Sow had a 52nd-minute penalty saved as Lille, without the suspended Mathieu Debuchy, were left four games without a win.

Team news
Garcia fears that Benoît Pedretti (hip) will "probably miss the game" but hopes that Marko Baša (shoulder) may be in with a chance, having been out since 30 October with a shoulder injury "He seems to be getting a lot better," said Garcia. Florent Balmont (knee) returned against Toulouse.

Match fact
CSKA lost their last home game against French opposition, going down 2-1 against Olympique de Marseille in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. In the same competition the previous season they beat AJ Auxerre 4-0 at home in the quarter-final to set up a 4-2 aggregate success en route to lifting the trophy. In the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage CSKA were 2-0 home winners against Paris Saint-Germain FC, Vágner Love scoring.

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