A draw against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday will be enough for Inter Milan to advance to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time in seven years.
CSKA, meanwhile, must overcome a 1-0 first-leg away loss in Italy last Wednesday to become the first Russian team to reach the last four since Spartak Moscow in 1991.
"Our spirits are high," CSKA defender Alexei Berezutsky said. "We have nothing to lose. A 1-0 away loss is not a 3-0 one. We must score at home anyway, even if we would have played to a scoreless draw in Italy."
Inter arrived in Moscow bolstered by a 3-0 win over Bologna on Saturday in the Serie A.
"All the team had a top game and it was important we got three points, both for the standings and to go with confidence into Tuesday's match with CSKA," said midfielder Thiago Motto, who scored twice.
CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky admitted that "even without five key players Inter played tremendously well against Bologna."
The other goal came from the 19-year-old forward Mario Balotelli, who returned to action after having sat out five games due to a rift with coach Jose Mourinho.
Julio Cesar's right ankle was bruised by Bologna forward Marco Di Vaio, but the goalkeeper was included in Inter's squad for the trip and is expected to play.
CSKA was idle in the Russian league as its Saturday home match against Zenit St. Petersburg was postponed for security reasons.
"This is to our advantage but as you know it wasn't our choice," Berezutsky said. "We were ready to play the game as well as Zenit."
Slutsky said the country's Interior Ministry insisted the game be postponed following two suicide bombings in Moscow's subway last Monday and due to the lack of police troops to ensure security during Orthodox Easter celebrations over the weekend.
Inter flew to Moscow on Sunday and wasn't scheduled to train and test out the artificial pitch until late Monday. Inter has indicated some concern about playing on an artificial pitch, but Slutsky said he didn't notice Russia or Russian clubs in games against foreign squads enjoying any particular advantage on the fake turf at Luzhniki Stadium.
CSKA Moscow will be without suspended midfielders Yevgeny Aldonin and Milos Krasic, and Slutsky hoped they will not be missed.
"I think our chances are 45 to 55 because Inter won (the first leg)," Berezutsky said.
CSKA, the 2005 UEFA Cup winner, has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
Inter's sole loss in Europe this season came in a 2-0 defeat at Barcelona in the group stage in November.
It will be Inter's seventh trip to Russia and the second this season. Inter played to 1-1 with the Russian champion Rubin Kazan in September. A 3-0 loss to Lokomotiv Moscow in 2003 was Inter's only one to a Russian club.
