Wayne Rooney has backed Manchester United to become a major force at home and in Europe again as he heads back to the city where he enjoyed the best night of his career.
On a sodden night in the Russian capital seven years ago, Rooney and his team-mates defeated Chelsea on penalties to clinch United's third European Cup.
The venue may be different - CSKA Moscow play in the Khimki Arena, not the Luzhniki Stadium - but the feeling of going back to Moscow remains the same for Rooney ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Group B encounter.
The 29-year-old, speaking to the English press aboard United's chartered flight east, recalled that night in Moscow with a warm smile.
"It was the highlight of my career," the striker said. "It is a massive competition to play in, to win the trophy it's obviously great memories."
The Champions League has brought Rooney pain in his career too, including last year when he had to watch it from the sidelines because of United's failure to qualify under former manager David Moyes.
"We want to get back to winning trophies, of course. That is why you play football - to try and be successful, certainly at this club," Rooney said. "In the last few years we haven't been good enough.
"There has been a big change in the club over the last few years and it's now starting to settle back down into a good rhythm with what the manager wants from us and we are improving.
"If we keep going the way we are, keep improving the way we are, then we will have a good chance of being successful."
Meanwhile, CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is hoping to avoid another "horrible" night against United.
The last time United came up against CSKA was six years ago. United won 1-0 in the Russian capital, but in the opposing fixture CSKA came within a whisker of recording a historic win.
CSKA established a 3-1 lead over the hosts, but Paul Scholes pulled one back and Antonio Valencia scored in the 92nd minute to snatch a draw for the Red Devils.
"I have some horrible memories because they managed to draw after we led 3-1 and they created a lot of chances," Akinfeev told UEFA.com.
"I am not trying to diminish Manchester United's success in any way, but they had a very strong team at that point.
"Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney were there, Edwin van der Sar was the goalkeeper, a lot of stars, so maybe they got scared by the fact they were losing at Old Trafford."
CSKA recovered from a defeat to Wolfsburg to record their first win of this season's Champions League earlier this month, while Leonid Slutsky's men are unbeaten and top of the Russian Premier League after 12 matches.
Akinfeev, who has played against Manchester City for the last couple of years, said: "I think this will be a very interesting match. It is always very interesting to play in the Champions League and to try to play our best against the best teams in Europe."
Source: PA-WIRE
