Francesco Totti, Juan Iturbe and Gervinho were all among the substitutes for Sunday's 1-0 win at Empoli with one eye on the Russian champions' visit to the Stadio Olimpico.
All three are poised to return, although there is not such a wealth of options in midfield for Garcia, where the suspended Daniele De Rossi joins long-term knee-injury victim Kevin Strootman on the sidelines.
"It’s a fantastic competition and I had the good fortune of playing in it with Lille," he said. "So I know a bit about it.
"The players are also looking forward to playing in it again.
"How do I feel about our game against CSKA? It's the first one, and we have to win it since it's our first home match of the group."
Roman Eremenko has enjoyed a rich vein of goalscoring form since joining from Rubin Kazan, finding the target on both CSKA appearances to date either side of netting for Finland in his country's 3-1 win over Faroe Islands this month.
Seydou Doumbia also scored on international duty, the Ivory Coast striker's first goal since a month on the sidelines with a hip injury.
Doumbia's return provides a timely boost for Slutsky - the 26-year-old struck in the opening two matches of this term having scored 20 times in all competitions last season, including a Champions League brace at Manchester City.
Vitinho endured a less profitable time while away with his national side, the Brazil Under-23 attacking midfielder sustaining an ankle injury against Oman that will keep him sidelined until November.
