Image source, Getty Images

Gloves. leggings, a full-on snood - all the cold-weather gear bar a balaclava on display from City's players in Moscow. If Yaya Toure could play in a duffel coat I think he would.

Kick-off just over 10 minutes away. Someone get Yaya a hot chocolate.

"Manchester City have been and remain favourites not only for our group but also the Champions League."

Strong words yesterday from CSKA boss Leonid Slutski, and words that the bookmakers do not agree with.

City are currently available at around 22-1 to win the Champions League, with Bayern Munich - also in Group E of course - favourites across the board. Let's hope that Slutski is a better manager than he is a tipster.

Francis in Manchester: Can someone please explain to me why Pellegrini persists with two strikers in Europe?

We are continually over run in midfield and on the back foot. How can he not see that?!

Alistair Bruce-Ball
BBC Radio 5 live in Moscow

"There's a very eerie feel about all of this as the City players go through their warm-ups and the music is blaring out of the speakers.

"But, the stands of course are empty."

I thought I just saw a snowflake falling around Joe Hart as he went through his pre-match warm-up routine - the weather could be around -2C by the end of the 90 minutes.

Chilly stuff!

Image source, Getty Images

There are no fans at the ground in Moscow tonight, with the only City fans likely to have a view of the game the 16 'characters' from Radcliffe who have hired out a flat which overlooks the ground., external

Madness. It really is.

But what are the greatest lengths you have gone to to watch that game that you just couldn't miss? Walked out of a job? Left a family wedding? Sold some of your prized possessions for that flight to eastern Europe? Driven through the night to a World Cup match?

Let us know.

Get in touch at #bbcfootball, external, pop on to the BBC Sport Facebook page, external or BBC Sport's Google+ area., external

You can also text us on 81111 in the UK only - don't forget to say who you are and where you are texting from.

If you were expecting Manchester City to take on a hostile Muscovite crowd tonight, a sort of Drago v Balboa cauldron of hate and ideology, then think again.

There will be no fans at all in the Arena Khimki, after CSKA were given a three-game fan ban following supporters' conduct during the 5-1 defeat at Roma in September.

The charge was a third Uefa sanction for racism in less than a year. Last season's Champions League group match between CSKA and City at the Khimki Arena featured racist chanting aimed at Yaya Toure.

So it's all quiet on the eastern front tonight then.

Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero both start for Manchester City in a side which shows five changes from the 4-1 win over Spurs at the weekend.

CSKA: Akinfeev, Fernandes, V. Berezutski, Ignashevich, Shchennikov, A. Berezutski, Natcho, Tosic, Eremenko, Milanov, Musa.

Manchester City: Hart, Kolarov, Mangala, Kompany, Zabaleta, Fernando, Toure, Milner, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero.

Image source, Getty Images

Jerome Boateng's stoppage-time volley.

Joe Hart's calamitous slip; Francesco Totti's magnificent chip.

Image source, Getty Images

Two decent performances, but two critical moments have left Manchester City with one point from two games in the Champions League this season.

It's not crisis point quite yet - but City's mission to Moscow this afternoon is a simple one which bears all the hallmarks of a classic Cold War thriller. Get in, get a result, get out.

Anything less than a win and it could be the Europa League in springtime...