CSKA Moscow intends to play with ``great pride'' in its Champions League quarterfinal at Inter Milan on Wednesday, two days after suicide bombers killed 39 people in Moscow subway stations.
CSKA will likely wear black armbands for the first-leg game.
``It's a real tragedy, there's no other way to describe the pain,'' CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky said Tuesday. ``The city of Moscow has cried and it's a loss for all of Russia. We will do our utmost to honor our country and our football with great pride.''
CSKA is the first Russian team to reach the quarterfinals since Spartak Moscow in 1996.
``I'm expecting an ugly game tomorrow, against a team that will play very defensively, forcing us to play with a lot of focus,'' Inter manager Jose Mourinho said. ``It would have been better to play the first leg against a team like this in Moscow, especially since the artificial turf there is going to give us problems.''
Two CSKA players - defenders Sergei Ignashevich and Alexei Berezutsky - were suspended for one game each after testing positive for a stimulant found in a cold remedy after a 3-3 draw with Manchester United in November.
``If two players go to doping control and they discover substances banned in the Champions League, there's something gray there,'' Mourinho said.
