NESHA STARCEVIC
AP Sports Writer
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Group E of the Champions League features two teams that need to recover from defeats in opening matches.
CSKA Moscow hosts four-time champion Bayern Munich after losing 5-1 at Roma. Manchester City lost 1-0 at Bayern and is now at home to Roma.
Here are some things to know about Tuesday’s matches:
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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Bayern and CSKA are meeting in the group stage for the second consecutive season. Bayern won both matches, 3-0 in Munich and 3-1 in Moscow.
When the two sides met in Moscow in November, CSKA was already eliminated and Bayern posted its record 10th straight victory in the Champions League.
CSKA needs to bounce back from the opening 5-1 rout by Roma, while Bayern clinched a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
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NO FANS
The Bayern-CSKA match will be held without fans, since the Russian club has been punished for the misbehavior of its supporters.
The Moscow club also cannot use its stadium, but since it is under reconstruction, it has been allowed by UEFA to use the Khimkhi Arena, where it has been playing its Russian league home matches.
Playing at home is not much of an advantage for CSKA anyway. The only “home” game CSKA won last season was actually played in St. Petersburg, because of the bad state of the Moscow field. CSKA beat Viktoria Plzen 3-2.
CSKA has lost five of its last seven international matches in Moscow.
While it may look “like a training match” because of the lack of fans, according to Arjen Robben, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said “we need the three points because we are in a difficult group.”
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CITY VS. ITALIANS
Manchester City’s last victory against an Italian team, home or away, dates back to the 1978-79 UEFA Cup, when it beat AC Milan 3-1.
But it is also unbeaten at home in four matches against Italian opposition.
City had a 50-50 record at home last season in the Champions League — two victories and two losses.
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HART RETURNS
Joe Hart will return to the City goal against Roma after being surprisingly omitted for the 4-2 victory over Hull on Saturday.
That raised questions over Hart’s position, with Willy Caballero considered a more credible challenger to a starting spot than predecessor Costel Pantilimon.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini said it was a straightforward case of squad rotation and later confirmed Hart would be back on duty against Roma after making a string of fine saves in the slender loss to Munich.
“It’s a crucial game because Roma won their first match and we lost,” Pellegrini said. “It will be a very tough group and we cannot drop points here at home. It’s very important for us to win that game.”
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PERFECT ROMA
Roma travels to Manchester City hoping its perfect record will remain intact at the end of a crucial week for the Italian club.
Rudi Garcia’s team is 6-0 in all competitions and has a 14-2 goal difference.
After the trip to Manchester, Roma faces what is already being billed as a title showdown with Juventus on Sunday.
“It will be a really fantastic match in Manchester,” Garcia said. “They have zero points, they have the pressure. They have to get a result. Then we will have plenty of time to get our strength back for the next league match.
“We are a solid team and this group has confidence in their own abilities. That’s what I like the most. Maybe we’ll suffer a bit at Manchester, but we will do everything we can to score and get a positive result. I believe this group is ready to deal with difficult moments. They will happen during this season, but after 15 points and a good start in the Champions League we shouldn’t be thinking of difficult moments.”
Roma will be boosted by the return of Juan Manuel Iturbe, who has been sidelined with injury since the 5-1 victory over CSKA Moscow, which saw him score once and set up two other goals in 25 minutes.
But Roma has won only once in 14 trips to England and lost all three matches in Manchester — to United.
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