Bayern eager to continue hot steak at wintry CSKA

PFC CSKA Moskva coach Leonid Slutski describes FC Bayern München as "the best in the world" but insists neither that, nor his team's 3-0 defeat in Bavaria on matchday one, should hamper their pursuit of a UEFA Europa League spot.

The Russian side are much improved since the clubs' September meeting, surging up their domestic table, and face title holders already assured of a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. Heavy snowfall and a lack of kit – the bus transporting it was stuck in traffic – prevented Bayern training at the Arena Khimki on Tuesday and they could perhaps be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas. Not on Josep Guardiola's watch, though.

• Bayern and Manchester City FC have already booked round of 16 berths. The holders will advance as Group D winners if they better City's result against FC Viktoria Plzeň. CSKA will seal third and the UEFA Europa League slot if they better point-less Plzeň's result in England.

CSKA
Leonid Slutski, coach
I feel we can do a lot more than we did [against Bayern] on matchday one – I don't think that game will have much of an effect on the result here. Bayern have just won 3-0 in the league against last season's UEFA Champions League runners-up and at present they are the best side in the world.

Our aim is to give as good an account of ourselves as we can and play to the best of our ability. They will always make chances as they are able to create opportunities against any side in the world. We need to make sure we are better in attack, something that was lacking in the first match between the sides.

The snow won't have an effect as there is undersoil heating at the ground, so the testing weather conditions won't be a factor for either team.

Weekend result
Saturday: CSKA 1-0 FC Spartak Moskva (Doumbia 8)
Akinfeev; Mário Fernandes (Nababkin 86), Ignashevich, Schennikov, A Berezutski; Elm; Honda, Wernbloom, Tošić (Zuber 90), Milanov; Doumbia (Musa 77).

• Seydou Doumbia scored his seventh strike in five outings as CSKA claimed their fourth successive Premier-Liga win. They were 11 points adrift of leaders FC Zenit before embarking on that run – the gap is now down to three.

Team news
Mário Fernandes started on Saturday, his first appearance of the season following a knee problem. Slutski said it is "still undecided" if Doumbia will feature and it is "unlikely" that Alan Dzagoev will be able to make his first outing since mid-September. Aleksandrs Cauņa has also been sidelined since September with a broken toe.

Bayern
Josep Guardiola, coach
We must get used to the weather conditions quickly. It was a long flight, but you can say the same about CSKA when they played us in Munich. We must be fully focused as CSKA are a well-drilled, professional outfit. They have some very good players and are strong at the back and in attack. They are good at moving the ball forward quickly. It won't be easy, but I think we should win.

We have a number of injury problems and will be without a number of players but I will put out our best available team. I trust my players completely. Every game is different and it is impossible to repeat past performances. It won't be easy. We are already through to the knockout stages and there is a chance we may ease off. However, I don't want my players to do so.

I know about Zoran Tošić and Sergei Ignashevich, who I think are excellent players. Alan Dzagoev is a very good player, exceptional at reading the game and excellent at adapting to situations that he is presented with. If he is not able to play it will make our lives a lot easier. Seydou Doumbia scored in CSKA's last game against Spartak Moskva and he's a great player with an excellent eye for goal.

Weekend result
Saturday: Borussia Dortmund 0-3 Bayern (Götze 66, Robben 85, Müller 87)
Neuer; Rafinha (Van Buyten 79), Boateng (Thiago Alcántara 64), Dante, Alaba; Lahm, Müller, Martínez, Kroos, Robben; Mandžukić (Götze 56).

• In a repeat of the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League final, Dortmund had early chances but fell behind when former Borussia midfielder Mario Götze struck. Manuel Neuer pulled off great saves from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus before Arjen Robben and Thomas Müller sealed the points on the counterattack.

Team news
Guardiola confirmed that Franck Ribéry, Mario Mandžukić, Claudio Pizarro and Xherdan Shaqiri are all out, while Bastian Schweinsteiger (ankle) is a long-term absentee. Thiago Alcántara, out since suffering ankle ligament damage on his first Bayern start on 24 August, came on as a substitute on Saturday.

Match fact
• Bayern can establish a UEFA Champions League record of ten consecutive victories by beating CSKA, having equalled FC Barcelona's 2002/03 feat of nine in a row when defeating Viktoria Plzeň last time out.