Bayer Leverkusen vs CSKA Moscow - Bayer Leverkusen could welcome back Kevin Volland

Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2016 by PA

Bayer Leverkusen will be without Germany winger Karim Bellarabi as they begin their Champions League campaign against CSKA Moscow, but could welcome back Kevin Volland.

Bellarabi is to undergo surgery on the groin injury he sustained during Saturday's 3-1 win over Hamburg and is facing a battle to return before the end of the year.

However, fellow Germany forward Volland is available again after recovering from the broken hand he suffered on international duty last month, although Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt refused to confirm whether the 24-year-old will feature against CSKA.

Schmidt said at his pre-match press conference: "Karim Bellarabi will be out for a couple of months and will undergo an operation in Basle tomorrow.

"Vladlen Yurchenko has a fractured leg and Kevin Volland isn't quite up to full speed yet. He's fit enough to make the squad, but we'll have to wait and see on that one."

Joel Pohjanpalo, who is the joint top-scorer in the Bundesliga after climbing off the bench to score a hat-trick in the final 11 minutes against Hamburg, is also not guaranteed a place in the first XI either.

Schmidt said of the 22-year-old Finland forward: "Joel has been superb lately and showed on Saturday how strong he is in the box.

"Whether he'll start tomorrow remains to be seen, but he's definitely in contention."

Leverkusen's weekend win was their first of the new Bundesliga season after starting out with a 2-1 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach.

CSKA, meanwhile, are second in the Russian Premier League with 14 points from a possible 18. They have conceded just one goal so far and warmed up for the trip to Germany with a 3-0 win over Terek Grozny.

Schmidt said: "If you get the better of the likes of Zenit in the league, you must be a good team. CSKA have shown recently how difficult they are to beat. I think the Hamburg win was superb preparation for tomorrow's game, and I hope we can pick up where we left off on Saturday."

History suggests CSKA may struggle at the BayArena, with the Russian outfit having lost all five of their previous matches in Germany - including at the hands of Bayern Munich last season as they crashed out of Europe at the group stage.

Coach Leonid Slutsky will be hoping for better this time around and has included Alan Dzagoev and Mario Fernandes in his 18-man squad for the match following their returns from injury.