Coach Manuel Pelligrini (C) has a difficult job at hand guiding Manchester City to the knockout stage of the tournament with the team winless in Europe this season. (Reuters)

Everyone at Manchester City is flying high after the 1-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend but they could all come crashing back to earth after Wednesday’s meeting with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.

The English top-flight champions, with striker Sergio Aguero in outstanding form, should in theory be too strong for their Russian counterparts at the Etihad Stadium, a year to the day since City won the corresponding fixture 5-2.

The omens are on the side of the home team too. CSKA have never won in England in five appearances while Aguero has scored seven goals against Russian clubs in four outings for City and previous club Atletico Madrid.

However, City’s performances in Europe this season have produced two draws and a defeat from three Group E matches and they are now battling to stay in the competition.

The second of those draws came in Moscow two weeks ago when they let a 2-0 lead slip in the closing stages, allowing CSKA to recover for a 2-2 draw, but they have no margin for errors now. Bayern Munich lead the way with nine points followed by AS Roma on four, City on two and CSKA on one. Anything less than a home win will put a huge dent in the home team’s hopes of advancing to the last 16.

A CSKA victory would put the Russians back in the hunt if Bayern, who handed City a lifeline when they thrashed Roma 7-1 two weeks ago, beat the Italian outfit again on Wednesday. Despite a surprise recent defeat by West Ham United, City are third in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Chelsea, and their form domestically is far superior to their results in Europe.

SCHIZOPHRENIC CITY

Midfielders David Silva and Frank Lampard are sidelined against CSKA through injury while Aleksandar Kolarov is a doubt after being hurt in the warm-up against United on Sunday. “Kolarov has a muscle injury in his calf and will be out for at least one month, and I think Frank will be fit next week,” City coach Manuel Pellegrini told reporters.

While City are showing somewhat schizophrenic form in the two biggest competitions they play in, CSKA travel to Manchester seeking to salvage a season that is beginning to slide.

The Moscow side trail leaders Zenit St Petersburg by seven points in the Russian top-flight after losing 1-0 to Andre Villas-Boas’ side at the weekend. Javi Garcia, who used to play for City, scored Zenit’s winner at CSKA on Saturday.

Injuries and suspensions have hit CSKA hard in Europe this season but coach Leonid Slutsky welcomes back Alan Dzagoev and Pontus Wernbloom on Wednesday after both served three-match bans. The Russians will still be without young forward Kirill Panchenko and Swedish midfielder Rasmus Elm who has yet to feature this season because of a serious stomach problem.

The police have meanwhile been called to investigate claims that City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure was racially abused within hours of re-activating his Twitter account on Monday. The 31-year-old left Twitter five months ago to focus on the World Cup but within hours of sending his first tweet on the social network site since then, he was subjected to racist insults, the Anti-Discrimination group Kick It Out said in a statement. Last year Toure allegedly faced racial abuse from Russian fans when City played CSKA Moscow in a Champions League match in Moscow.

CSKA denied any abuse took place, but UEFA ignored their protests and closed part of their ground for their next Champions League game.

Room for improvement

Lampard’s former club Chelsea are unbeaten in all competitions this season, Chelsea have been in stellar form and could ensure themselves a spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win on Wednesday. Victory over Maribor in Group G, along with Sporting Lisbon failing to beat Schalke, would be enough for the London club to advance.

Sporting, looking to turn around their season, are winless in this season’s tournament and sixth in the Portuguese league. But the team was denied a point against Schalke in October when Adrien Silva was penalized for handball, although replays showed the ball hit his chest.

Chelsea have already beaten Maribor, routing the Slovenian club 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in October, and lead the Premier League by four points. But Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be looking for an improvement on Wednesday after saying his team’s “collective performance was not there” in the 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Schalke travel to Portugal without attacking midfielder Julian Draxler, who is out for the year with a hamstring injury. But another midfielder, Kevin-Prince Boateng, should be back. The absence of Draxler, however, will hurt Schalke’s attack. A member of Germany’s World Cup squad, Draxler’s speed is crucial to Schalke’s counterattacks.