Astana — CSKA, 03 December 2023

Let's not be fooled

The meeting with Astana initiates the second round of the first stage of the VTB League regular season for CSKA. In the first round, the game with a team from the capital of Kazakhstan did not pose an insoluble problem for the Muscovites. The guests of Megasport forced a fight only in the first half, after which they were limited by the army defense and lost heavily.

Since then, our future opponents have won four out of nine games, and twice more missed the chance to win in the end.

“I still believe that Astana has a good team this year, definitely much better than in previous season, and it can be dangerous against any opponent, especially on their home court,” said CSKA head coach Emil Rajkovic. “This is why the game discipline is important. We had some quality practices before going on the road, the team is in good shape, so we have all the reasons to count on good performance in both away games.”

First charter for Zaitsev

After the previous double-header the team rested for only a day. Moreover, the preparation was “distracted” by two significant events - additions to the families of Amath M’Baye and Ivan Ukhov.

The practice took place in Krylatskoye with the participation of youth team guard Ivan Zaitsev. He then went with the team to Kazakhstan, thus for the first time in his career finding himself on a team charter, as usual provided by the official carrier of CSKA Aeroflot.

Past matchups

Win-loss record: 27-0
Game of 2023-24 season:

28-Oct-2023. CSKA – Astana: 96-66 (+30)

Brief dossier

BC Astana (Astana, Kazakhstan)
Founded: 2000
Colors: yellow, blue
Home court: SC Velotrack/Saryarka (9,270).
CEO: Samson Arakelian
Head coach: Oleg Kiselev
Website: pbcastana.kz
Trophy case: 11-time Kazakhstan champion (2012-15, 17-23), 10-time Kazakhstan Cup winner (2011-14,17-21, 23), FIBA Asian Champions Cup bronze winner (2017).