Leonid Slutsky: The match against Zenit will be massively important

CSKA Moscow manager admitted his side’s match against league leaders Zenit St. Petersburg will be a crucial contest, but questioned the idea that Andrey Arshavin is going to feature in the tie.

«Are thoughts about the Madrid game going to interfere in your preparations for the RPL match?»

«You know, people were asking me the exact same thing before the Champions League match. «Forget the Champions League, focus on the nation championship» they said. Now it’s the reverse. So should we just focus on Madrid and forget about the championship? No, we are taking it one match at a time. The next game is crucial, in every respect. A lot depends on it,» said the Red Army boss.

«Arshavin is the Russian national team skipper and leader. Any team in the Russian league would want a player like him. He is a top signing, but I am not sure if he’ll play against us. He will have trained only for one day, that may not be enough to regain full fitness,» added the coach.