The Sofia club could not prove themselves against the background of more experienced and skilled rivals. Over the five rounds in the group stage of the Europa League, CSKA did not score a single goal, gaining two points. On December 3-rd, the team defended a draw against Cluj (0:0) and in the second round unexpectedly took away points from Roma (0:0). In the Bulgarian championship CSKA is ranked third in the standings with four wins in a row. In the last round the Sofia team beat Botev away (3:0).
The Stallions could have issued a pass to the playoffs already in the last round, when they hosted Inter, which had nowhere to retreat. The game turned out to be quite intriguing, with an abundance of goals scored and brought success to the Milan club with a score of 3:2. The defeat at Inter left Borussia on the first line in the standings, but the situation remains confusing. M?nchengladbach has eight points, which is one point more than Shakhtar and Real Madrid and three more than Inter. Wards of Marco Rosa will be satisfied even with a draw in this meeting. Borussia has not yet lost on the road in the group. The German club drew with a score of 2:2 against Inter, while Shakhtar generally humiliated them with a 6:0 result. In general, the “stallions” are not stable on fields of their opponents within the Champions League. In the previous six away matches they have three wins, a draw and two losses. Only Jonas Hoffman will definitely not play in the match. Injuries have three defenders: Niko Elvedi, Rami Bensebaini and Tony Jantschke. Their participation in the match is in question.
