CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk match preview

With the Zico-lead CSKA Moskva already in possession of one trophy, that being this past weekends Russian Super Cup victory over Rubin Kazan, the Army-Men push forward Thursday evening at Luzhniki Stadium against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup.

The Army-Men are intensely motivated to maintain Russian control of the UEFA Cup, following Zenit Saint Petersburg's victory last year and have amassed a brilliant array of talent. With the Russian season ready to commence Sunday with the Army-Men as leading candidates to hoist the hardware at the end of the season, they have a keen eye on filling the trophy case this year. While Vágner Love, Yuri Zhirkov and Alan Dzagoev needed little assistance in the attack, CSKA's attack force is now bolstered with a rejuventated Daniel Carvalho and former Slavia Praha striker Tomáš Necid. As always defenders of Vasili and Aleksei Berezutski and 'keeper Igor Akinfeev are the foundation of one of the best defending walls in the sport.

Against Shakhtar Donetsk they go against a side well on form and looking quite capable of continuing the strong run of Ukraine clubs, Dynamo Kyiv and Metalist Kharkiv in the UEFA Cup. Shakhtar is coming off a tough as nails 1-0 defeat of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk this week and Mircea Lucescu has his side primed for the match.