Spartak Moscow have been pitted in a group that comprises of Premier League champions and one of the favourites to win the Champions League Chelsea, Slovakian champions Zilina and French title holders Marseille. It will be tough for the Russians to progress from the group but they did make a winning start to their European campaign.
Spartak defeated Marseille 1-0 in France on Matchday One and the three points bagged away from home will certainly give them a huge boost. However, they didn't exactly look on top of their game that night as the Red-Whites did not manage a single shot on target - yet an own goal from Cesar Azpilicueta saw them through.
Spartak will be the favourites to win against Zilina in Moscow on Tuesday evening but they will need to be cautious as they have lost six and drawn five of their last 11 Champions League games at home. However, they have won their last two games in the competition after losing 22 Champions League games in a row.
Repairing The Damage
MSK Zilina's maiden Champions League campaign commenced as a nightmare when they were drubbed 4-1 by group favourites Chelsea in their opening match on Matchday One. The Slovakian champions were mauled from all angles at home and it was certainly a lesson taught to them.
Zilina are seen by many as the whipping boys in this group and after their dire performance against the Premier League giants there would have been more adding their name to that list. The Sosoni know that they will desperately need to raise their game to get anything in Moscow against Spartak.
Zilina are doing pretty well in the Slovakian top flight at the moment and have yet to lose in the league this season and coach Pavel Hapal believes that they can carry the momentum to this, saying, "We try to win every game and tomorrow's match against Spartak will be no exception, but we shall see how it goes."
TEAM NEWS
Spartak Moscow
Coach Valeri Karpin will be without Nikita Bazhenov, who is out with a thigh injury. Kirill Kombarov is unavailable too with an ankle problem. Nikola Drincic has recovered from a broken leg but he will have to wait before making his competitive debut for Spartak.
However, there is good news for the Russians as Nicolas Pareja returned to action at the weekend having recovered from a calf problem and could feature on Tuesday.
Cluj
The Slovaks have no injury or suspension worries. Hapal could stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation that he deployed against Chelsea.
Prediction
A win for Spartak looks likely given their away win on Matchday One and the fact that they are playing at home will add to their odds of defeating Zilina.
Spartak 2-0 MSK Zilina 
