Defending Turkcell Super League champion Beşiktaş travels to Moscow for a Champions League Group B game, hoping to recover from a very bad start to the new season and ease the pressure on coach Mustafa Denizli. The under-pressure coach believes CSKA has hard times under pressure and will try to exploit that



Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli watches his team against Manchester United. AA photo


Last season’s Turkcell Super League champion and Turkish Cup winner Beşiktaş has high hopes for its Champions League Group B encounter on artificial turf at the Luzhniki stadium in the Russian capital on Wednesday.

Beşiktaş could clinch only six points in the first seven weeks of the Turkish league and currently sits in 12th place. The Istanbul side did not have a good start to its Champions League campaign either, losing the first game 1-0 at home to Manchester United.

The poor results both in the league and on the European stage have increased the pressure on coach Mustafa Denizli. He was hailed by all pundits last season after winning the league title, which made him the first coach to win the league with three Istanbul teams, but calls for his resignation have been looming recently. The Beşiktaş fans are definitely unhappy, as the team could not even score a goal in its last five league games.

But Denizli believes that his team will have a shot at victory in Moscow. "It is not a team that cannot be beaten," said the coach. "When under the slightest pressure they cannot get organized, and they fall apart."

CSKA Moscow is also not experiencing the best domestic form, losing to Zenit 2-0 on Saturday to drop to fourth place in the Russian league with seven matches to go. But the fact that Beşiktaş has not scored in its last five matches is encouraging for CSKA Moscow coach Juande Ramos.

"It's a positive statistic for us, but hardly we will proceed from this," Ramos said. "First of all, we will think how to arrange our game, but we also will try to extend Beşiktaş’s goalless streak. We have enough motivation to win."

The game will also give Denizli a chance to get his first points in the Champions League, as his last quest in the top competition when he was coaching Fenerbahçe in the 2001-2002 season ended in zero points.

Manchester hosts Wolfsburg

In Group B’s other game, Manchester United will seek to topple the leader Wolfsburg by beating the German champion at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United defender Nemanja Vidic is keen to maintain the club's unbeaten home streak in the competition, which dates back to February 2005, and ultimately reach the final to exorcise the memory of Barcelona's victory in May.

"We need to make sure it doesn't happen again," Vidic said. "It is a very bad feeling when you go to a final and lose and that one is a particularly bad memory.

"You do have to acknowledge it is better to get to the final and lose than not be there at all, and that to stand up you need to sit. But it is hard."

United is still adapting to life without top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who departed to Real Madrid in the off-season, and forward Carlos Tevez, who defected to Manchester City. The Premier League champion and current leader relied on 34-year-old midfielder Paul Scholes' late goal to win the opener in Istanbul.

"Ronaldo and Tevez are quality players, there is no question about that," Vidic said. "But it is hard to say whether we have got over losing them. We will probably only know that at the end of the season.

"There is no question we have quality players but, for me, the really encouraging sign is that we are still not in the best form. You don't want to be at your highest level at this stage. We have to be ready for the most important games at the end."

Wolfsburg is delighted to have kept hold of Brazilian striker Grafite, who scored 28 goals in 25 German league games last season.

And the 30-year-old Grafite dazzled on Wolfsburg's Champions League debut two weeks ago, scoring a hat-trick to clinch a 3-1 victory over CSKA Moscow.

Now he can't wait to end United's impressive home streak.

"We are looking forward to going there, to have a good match and bring back one or three points," Grafite said. "This is a team that has grown together, has had difficulties together but is going through a marvelous period together. There is a brotherhood together on the pitch and in the dressing room."

But Wolfburg's defense is causing coach Armin Veh concerns, especially with captain Josue an injury doubt. The Brazilian midfielder plays an important role in collecting loose balls and intercepting attacks but is still in pain despite returning after knee surgery.

"We have to wait and see [if he plays], the decision will likely come shortly before the match," Veh said. "We really have to improve our defending.”