CL alkupaloja
Lähetetty:
By Barney Spender
ATHENS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Greece midfielder Angelos Basinas may be missing from the Panathinaikos team for their final Champions League Group E game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Basinas, who played a full 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat by arch-rivals Olympiakos Piraeus on Saturday, has been suffering from a back strain and may not be risked if coach Zdenek Scasny feels it will jeopardise his fitness.
Panathinaikos go into the game knowing they need to do better than Arsenal to progress to the knock-out stage of the tournament.
Currently lying third in the group and assured of going into the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, they need to beat PSV Eindhoven, who have qualified, and hope Rosenborg Trondheim take at least a point from their game at Arsenal.
Fulfilling the first part of the equation will be difficult enough, especially if Basinas, their key playmaker this season, is not fit.
In spite of gaining two creditable draws against Arsenal, they have struggled for consistency and slipped to a confidence-sapping defeat in Piraeus at the weekend, beaten by a Rivaldo free kick which left them third in the league.
PSV, meanwhile, have a five-point lead at the top of the Dutch league after a 4-0 win over De Graafschap on Saturday.
They broke a 33-year-old Dutch record in that match by not conceding a goal for 1,110 minutes, but will be without Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (shoulder), John de Jong (knee) and Theo Lucius (illness and thigh).
They also have doubts about Andre Ooijer (ankle), Young-Pyo Lee (thigh) and DaMarcus Beasley (ankle), but at least they know that whatever the outcome of the match they have made it through from the group phase for the first time in nine attempts.
Probable teams:
Panathinaikos: 12-Kostas Chalkias; 2 René Henriksen, 8-Yannis Goumas, 16-Sotiris Kirgiakos, 6-Markus Munch; 20-Angelos Basinas, 21-Dumitru Mitu, 26-Rudolf Skacel, 9-Ezequiel Gonzalez; 19-Michalis Konstantinou, 11 Dimitris Papadopoulos
PSV Eindhoven: 1-Gomes; 2-Andre Ooijer, 4-Alex, 5-Wilfred Bouma, 3-Young-Pyo Lee; 6-Mark van Bommel, 14-Johann Vogel, 8-Philip Cocu; 7-Ji-Sung Park, 35-Gerald Sibon, 17-Jefferson Farfan
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden
PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain, desperate to salvage a disappointing season, hope CSKA Moscow will be ring-rusty in their do-or-die Champions League game on Tuesday.
The Parisians have little realistic hope of winning the French title and are second in Group H, level on five points with European champions Porto who play host to Chelsea.
The London side have already qualified for the tournament's knock-out stage. CSKA, whose domestic season finished in mid-November, have four points.
"We still have a chance of making it to the next round after a very poor start," said captain Jose Pierre-Fanfan. "But we know very little about the Moscow side.
"Their championship has been over for three weeks now and I guess it gives us some advantage."
Paris were beaten 2-0 by CSKA in September, shortly after losing 3-0 at home to Chelsea. "What we need is to win, we don't have to worry about anything else," Pierre-Fanfan said.
Paris's recent results -- including a 1-1 draw with Lille at the weekend -- revealed a lack of goal-scoring talent.
"The defence is not a problem but we are still experiencing problems when attacking. We just hope all the fans will be there to support us," Pierre-Fanfan said.
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic is banned from the touchline for two months after arguing with the referee during a league match.
CSKA coach Valery Gazzayev remains optimistic.
"We have one more match to play and until that game is finished, we still have a chance," Gazzayev said.
"Our future is still in our hands as we know a win in Paris would guarantee us at least a UEFA Cup spot."
Gazzayev's team held a mini-training camp in Spain last week after their domestic season ended and, unlike PSG, have major injury worries.
Brazilian striker Daniel Carvalho, who saw only limited action during his first season in Moscow after a transfer from Internacional, has been ruled out with a groin pull.
Croatia striker Ivica Olic (thigh) and Nigerian full back Chidi Odiah (shoulder) remain in the team, although both have only a slim chance to play on Tuesday.
Probable teams:
PSG: 1-Lionel Letizi; 5-Bernard Mendy, 6-Mario Yepes, 24-Jose Pierre-Fanfan, 22-Sylvain Armand; 14-Edouard Cisse, 23-Modeste M'Bami, 19-Lorik Cana, 8-Reinaldo; 9-Pauleta, 28-Danijel Ljuboja
CSKA Moscow: 35-Igor Akinfeev; 2-Deividas Semberas, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 6-Alexei Berezutsky, 22-Yevgeny Aldonin; 8-Rolan Gusev, 10-Osmar Ferreyra, 18-Yuri Zhirkov, 20-Jiri Jarosik, 25-Elver Rahimic; 11-Vagner Love
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Werder Bremen and Valencia geared up for Tuesday's Champions League Group G showdown with domestic victories at the weekend but it will be the German side that approach the game in more optimistic mood.
Valencia snatched a late 1-0 win over lowly Albacete thanks to a deflected strike from winger Xisco, but Werder were in irresistible form as they smashed six past basement side SC Freiburg.
Werder have an injury doubt over striker Ivan Klasnic, who has a damaged shoulder, but that is unlikely to worry coach Thomas Schaaf after his forwards gave such a devastating performance against Freiburg.
Miroslav Klose scored two inside the opening 23 minutes and Angelos Haristeas added a hat-trick, with French midfielder Johan Micoud capping a classy display with the other goal.
A draw or even a 2-1 defeat against Valencia would be enough to take the German champions through but after such an exhilarating attacking display Schaaf is keen to see the same sort of attitude against the Spaniards.
"We could go there just looking for a goalless draw but we know we have a lot of potential in attack," said Schaaf. "We should take advantage of that.
"We will avoid the temptation to sit back and defend."
A victory and defeat for Inter in their final game against Anderlecht could even send the German side through to the next round as group winners.
Spanish champions Valencia have bounced back from a wretched run by putting together a four-match winning streak but they are still far from their fluent best.
A succession of injury problems has blighted the team's progress this season and coach Claudio Ranieri will once again have to make do without several key players for the must-win game against Werder.
The versatile Miguel Angel Angulo and central midfielder David Albelda are still struggling with thigh problems, while left winger Vicente and centre-back Roberto Ayala are unlikely to play even though they are in the final stages of recovery from long-term injuries.
But despite his selection worries and the fact that his team is still not playing well, Ranieri says he is encouraged by his side getting back to winning ways.
"We are still having problems but the most important thing is that the victories have given us a valuable boost ahead of the Werder game," the Italian said after the Albacete match.
Valencia, who have qualified for the knockout stages every time they have played in the Champions League, have never lost to a German side at the Mestalla, but will need to win 1-0 or by two clear goals if they want to secure a place in the last 16 this time round.
Probable teams
Valencia: 1-Santiago Canizares; 23-Curro Torres, 5-Carlos Marchena, 12-Marco Caneira, 15-Amedeo Carboni; 7-Stefano Fiore, 8-Ruben Baraja, 6-David Albelda, 18-Xisco or 14-Vicente; 21-Pablo Aimar, 11-Marco Di Vaio
Werder Bremen: 1-Andreas Reinke; 3-Petri Pasanen, 6-Frank Baumann, 25-Valerien Ismael, 7-Paul Stalteri; 20-Daniel Jensen, 4-Fabian Ernst, 10-Johan Micoud, 24-Tim Borowski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Angelos Haristeas
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
..............
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be left at home when Manchester United travel to Turkey for Wednesday's Champions League clash at Fenerbahce.
INJURY WOE The Dutch striker missed Saturday's 3-0 win against Southampton with a calf injury and Sir Alex Ferguson has decided not to risk him against the Turkish champions.
United have already clinched their place in the knockout stages and Ferguson believes it is more important for van Nistelrooy to face Fulham in the Premiership next Monday.
Challenge people online for real cash prizes. Play online games of skill and win money playing Darts, Golf and F1 racing... "Ruud has this injury at the bottom of his calf and it is proving troublesome," he told the club's official website.
LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Team news and probable line-ups for Tuesday's matches in Champions League Group G:
INTER MILAN v ANDERLECHT
INTER
Suspensions: Adriano (second match of two-match ban)
Injuries: Kily Gonzalez (ankle), Alberto Fontana (foot), Carlos Gamarra (knee)
Doubtful: Belozoglu Emre (hand), Obafemi Martins (illness)
ANDERLECHT
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Daniel Zitka (broken arm), Tristan Peersman (Achilles tendon), Glen De Boeck (cruciate ligaments), Hannu Tihinen (foot), Martin Kolar (knee), Nenad Jestrovic (broken arm)
Doubtful: none
Probable teams:
Inter: 1-Francesco Toldo; 4-Javier Zanetti, 2-Ivan Cordoba, 11-Sinisa Mihajlovic, 16-Giuseppe Favalli; 7-Andy van der Meyde, 14-Juan Sebastian Veron, 19-Esteban Cambiasso, 25-Dejan Stankovic; 20-Alvaro Recoba, 32-Christian Vieri.
Anderlecht: 25-Jan Van Steenberghe; 6-Michal Zewlakow, 27-Vincent Kompany, 34-Lamine Traoré, 3-Olivier Deschacht; 9-Mbo Mpenza, 5-Besnik Hasi, 21-Par Zetterberg, 17-Christian Wilhelmsson; 26-Aruna Dindane, 22-Oleg Iachtchouk
Referee: Mike Riley (England)
Head-to-head record
Played: 5
Wins: Inter 3 Anderlecht 1 Draws 1
Previous meetings
UF: SF 1.04.70 Anderlecht 0 Inter 1
15.04.70 Inter 0 Anderlecht 2
UF: QF 4.03.97 Anderlecht 1 Inter 1
18.03.97 Inter 2 Anderlecht 1
CL: GP 29.09.04 Anderlecht 1 Inter 3
* Inter have failed to score in three of their last six European home matches.
* Anderlecht have lost their last six Champions League games.
- - -
VALENCIA v WERDER BREMEN
VALENCIA
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Roberto Ayala (knee), Francisco Rufete (groin)
Doubtful: Momo Sissoko (ankle), Miguel Angel Angulo (thigh), David Albelda (thigh), Vicente (ankle)
BREMEN
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Gustavo Nery (broken bone in hand)
Doubtful: Ivan Klasnic (shoulder)
Probable teams:
Valencia: 1-Santiago Canizares; 23-Curro Torres, 5-Carlos Marchena, 12-Marco Caneira, 15-Amedeo Carboni; 7-Stefano Fiore, 8-Ruben Baraja, 6-David Albelda, 18-Xisco or 14-Vicente; 21-Pablo Aimar, 11-Marco Di Vaio
Bremen: 1-Andreas Reinke; 3-Petri Pasanen, 6-Frank Baumann, 25-Valerien Ismael, 7-Paul Stalteri; 20-Daniel Jensen, 4-Fabian Ernst, 10-Johan Micoud, 24-Tim Borowski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Angelos Haristeas
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
Head-to-head record
Played: 1 Wins: Werder 1
Previous meeting
CL: GP 29.09.04 Werder 2 Valencia 1
* Valencia have failed to win in each of their last seven matches against German teams.
*Werder have won only two of their last 11 European away games.
Porto v Chelsea
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will rest some of his key players in Porto with his team already through to the next stage of the Champions League.
Mateja Kezman is likely to start up front against the side Mourinho led to the Champions League title last season.
Midfielders Scott Parker and Joe Cole, as well as right-back Glen Johnson, could also make the starting line-up.
Porto's Vitor Baia, Nuno Valente, Raul Meireles are out while Luis Fabiano is doubtful with a thigh injury.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Babayaro, Johnson, Ferreira, Bridge, Gallas, Tiago, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard, Smertin, Cole, Parker, Duff, Kezman, Gudjohnsen, Robben, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, Geremi, Makelele.
....................
BARCA HIT BY STRING OF INJURIES
Barcelona's mounting injury list has seen coach Frank Rijkaard include 11 youth team players in his squad to travel to the Ukraine for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The latest star to fall victim to an ailment is forward Ludovic Giuly, who missed the weekend match against Malaga with a thigh strain and joins the likes of Thiago Motta, Edmilson, Gabri, Gerard, Henrik Larsson and goalkeeper Albert Jorquera on the sidelines.
Fortunately for Rijkaard, the match against Shakhtar is not pivotal to Barca's European hopes as they have already guaranteed qualification from Group F after picking up 10 points from their opening five games.
That puts the Spanish side two points behind group leaders AC Milan, who complete their schedule away at Celtic on Tuesday.
The injury absences did not affect Barca too much at the weekend as they put four past Malaga without reply to stretch their lead at the top of the Primera Liga to nine points over Real Madrid.
And with that performance in mind, Rijkaard has named virtually the same squad for the game against Shakhtar with the only new addition being youngster Rodri Garcia. He replaces full-back Damia Abella who was not registered for the Champions League at the start of the season.
One player who is making the most of the spate of injuries is Spain Under-21 international Andres Iniesta, who replaced Giuly at the weekend and showed yet again why he is tipped for great things, terrorising the Malaga defence as well as scoring Barca's third goal.
"I was surprised to see myself in the headlines after the match but what is really pleasing for me is that the team is continuing its good run," Iniesta said.
"All I can say is thank you very much to the fans because each time that I go onto the pitch I know that I am not on my own."
He added: "We now play against Donetsk where we will go to win, there is no other objective, and then later after that we can start thinking about our next match against Albacete.
"What I want to do now, as do all my team-mates, is to try and finish in first place in our Champions League group although we realise that this is not going to be an easy task."
Although they have lost four of their opening five matches in the group, Shakhtar still have a chance of pipping Celtic for third spot and a place in the UEFA Cup.
The Scottish side are currently third in the standings, a point clear of Shakhtar.
Shakhtar, who warmed up for the game with a 3-1 Premier League win over Volyn last week, are waiting on the fitness of key defender Anatoliy Tymoschuk.
The Ukraine international is struggling with an injury but coach Mircea Lucescu is hoping he will be available to play some part in the match.
"Anatoli trains, runs, and works hard. He is feeling good physically, the only question is if he can kick the ball. It would be great if he could play, if not - we have replacements," Lucescu said.
Lucescu will definitely be without defender Razvan Rat and striker Ciprian Marica.
Marica will be out of action for around three weeks as he needs a knee operation.
...............
Celtic v AC Milan
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill will almost certainly be without Stephen Pearson who has a groin injury.
Stilian Petrov (ankle) did not train on Monday, while Didier Agathe did train but is struggling with a groin problem.
Petrov limped off against Hibs and is struggling to make the game, which Celtic must win to ensure third place.
AC Milan, who are looking to finish top of Group F, are without injured trio Jaap Stam (ankle), Filippo Inzaghi (ankle), and Jon Dahl Tomasson (back)
Reuters. BBC, Sporting Life
ATHENS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Greece midfielder Angelos Basinas may be missing from the Panathinaikos team for their final Champions League Group E game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Basinas, who played a full 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat by arch-rivals Olympiakos Piraeus on Saturday, has been suffering from a back strain and may not be risked if coach Zdenek Scasny feels it will jeopardise his fitness.
Panathinaikos go into the game knowing they need to do better than Arsenal to progress to the knock-out stage of the tournament.
Currently lying third in the group and assured of going into the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, they need to beat PSV Eindhoven, who have qualified, and hope Rosenborg Trondheim take at least a point from their game at Arsenal.
Fulfilling the first part of the equation will be difficult enough, especially if Basinas, their key playmaker this season, is not fit.
In spite of gaining two creditable draws against Arsenal, they have struggled for consistency and slipped to a confidence-sapping defeat in Piraeus at the weekend, beaten by a Rivaldo free kick which left them third in the league.
PSV, meanwhile, have a five-point lead at the top of the Dutch league after a 4-0 win over De Graafschap on Saturday.
They broke a 33-year-old Dutch record in that match by not conceding a goal for 1,110 minutes, but will be without Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (shoulder), John de Jong (knee) and Theo Lucius (illness and thigh).
They also have doubts about Andre Ooijer (ankle), Young-Pyo Lee (thigh) and DaMarcus Beasley (ankle), but at least they know that whatever the outcome of the match they have made it through from the group phase for the first time in nine attempts.
Probable teams:
Panathinaikos: 12-Kostas Chalkias; 2 René Henriksen, 8-Yannis Goumas, 16-Sotiris Kirgiakos, 6-Markus Munch; 20-Angelos Basinas, 21-Dumitru Mitu, 26-Rudolf Skacel, 9-Ezequiel Gonzalez; 19-Michalis Konstantinou, 11 Dimitris Papadopoulos
PSV Eindhoven: 1-Gomes; 2-Andre Ooijer, 4-Alex, 5-Wilfred Bouma, 3-Young-Pyo Lee; 6-Mark van Bommel, 14-Johann Vogel, 8-Philip Cocu; 7-Ji-Sung Park, 35-Gerald Sibon, 17-Jefferson Farfan
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden
PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain, desperate to salvage a disappointing season, hope CSKA Moscow will be ring-rusty in their do-or-die Champions League game on Tuesday.
The Parisians have little realistic hope of winning the French title and are second in Group H, level on five points with European champions Porto who play host to Chelsea.
The London side have already qualified for the tournament's knock-out stage. CSKA, whose domestic season finished in mid-November, have four points.
"We still have a chance of making it to the next round after a very poor start," said captain Jose Pierre-Fanfan. "But we know very little about the Moscow side.
"Their championship has been over for three weeks now and I guess it gives us some advantage."
Paris were beaten 2-0 by CSKA in September, shortly after losing 3-0 at home to Chelsea. "What we need is to win, we don't have to worry about anything else," Pierre-Fanfan said.
Paris's recent results -- including a 1-1 draw with Lille at the weekend -- revealed a lack of goal-scoring talent.
"The defence is not a problem but we are still experiencing problems when attacking. We just hope all the fans will be there to support us," Pierre-Fanfan said.
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic is banned from the touchline for two months after arguing with the referee during a league match.
CSKA coach Valery Gazzayev remains optimistic.
"We have one more match to play and until that game is finished, we still have a chance," Gazzayev said.
"Our future is still in our hands as we know a win in Paris would guarantee us at least a UEFA Cup spot."
Gazzayev's team held a mini-training camp in Spain last week after their domestic season ended and, unlike PSG, have major injury worries.
Brazilian striker Daniel Carvalho, who saw only limited action during his first season in Moscow after a transfer from Internacional, has been ruled out with a groin pull.
Croatia striker Ivica Olic (thigh) and Nigerian full back Chidi Odiah (shoulder) remain in the team, although both have only a slim chance to play on Tuesday.
Probable teams:
PSG: 1-Lionel Letizi; 5-Bernard Mendy, 6-Mario Yepes, 24-Jose Pierre-Fanfan, 22-Sylvain Armand; 14-Edouard Cisse, 23-Modeste M'Bami, 19-Lorik Cana, 8-Reinaldo; 9-Pauleta, 28-Danijel Ljuboja
CSKA Moscow: 35-Igor Akinfeev; 2-Deividas Semberas, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 6-Alexei Berezutsky, 22-Yevgeny Aldonin; 8-Rolan Gusev, 10-Osmar Ferreyra, 18-Yuri Zhirkov, 20-Jiri Jarosik, 25-Elver Rahimic; 11-Vagner Love
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Werder Bremen and Valencia geared up for Tuesday's Champions League Group G showdown with domestic victories at the weekend but it will be the German side that approach the game in more optimistic mood.
Valencia snatched a late 1-0 win over lowly Albacete thanks to a deflected strike from winger Xisco, but Werder were in irresistible form as they smashed six past basement side SC Freiburg.
Werder have an injury doubt over striker Ivan Klasnic, who has a damaged shoulder, but that is unlikely to worry coach Thomas Schaaf after his forwards gave such a devastating performance against Freiburg.
Miroslav Klose scored two inside the opening 23 minutes and Angelos Haristeas added a hat-trick, with French midfielder Johan Micoud capping a classy display with the other goal.
A draw or even a 2-1 defeat against Valencia would be enough to take the German champions through but after such an exhilarating attacking display Schaaf is keen to see the same sort of attitude against the Spaniards.
"We could go there just looking for a goalless draw but we know we have a lot of potential in attack," said Schaaf. "We should take advantage of that.
"We will avoid the temptation to sit back and defend."
A victory and defeat for Inter in their final game against Anderlecht could even send the German side through to the next round as group winners.
Spanish champions Valencia have bounced back from a wretched run by putting together a four-match winning streak but they are still far from their fluent best.
A succession of injury problems has blighted the team's progress this season and coach Claudio Ranieri will once again have to make do without several key players for the must-win game against Werder.
The versatile Miguel Angel Angulo and central midfielder David Albelda are still struggling with thigh problems, while left winger Vicente and centre-back Roberto Ayala are unlikely to play even though they are in the final stages of recovery from long-term injuries.
But despite his selection worries and the fact that his team is still not playing well, Ranieri says he is encouraged by his side getting back to winning ways.
"We are still having problems but the most important thing is that the victories have given us a valuable boost ahead of the Werder game," the Italian said after the Albacete match.
Valencia, who have qualified for the knockout stages every time they have played in the Champions League, have never lost to a German side at the Mestalla, but will need to win 1-0 or by two clear goals if they want to secure a place in the last 16 this time round.
Probable teams
Valencia: 1-Santiago Canizares; 23-Curro Torres, 5-Carlos Marchena, 12-Marco Caneira, 15-Amedeo Carboni; 7-Stefano Fiore, 8-Ruben Baraja, 6-David Albelda, 18-Xisco or 14-Vicente; 21-Pablo Aimar, 11-Marco Di Vaio
Werder Bremen: 1-Andreas Reinke; 3-Petri Pasanen, 6-Frank Baumann, 25-Valerien Ismael, 7-Paul Stalteri; 20-Daniel Jensen, 4-Fabian Ernst, 10-Johan Micoud, 24-Tim Borowski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Angelos Haristeas
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
..............
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be left at home when Manchester United travel to Turkey for Wednesday's Champions League clash at Fenerbahce.
INJURY WOE The Dutch striker missed Saturday's 3-0 win against Southampton with a calf injury and Sir Alex Ferguson has decided not to risk him against the Turkish champions.
United have already clinched their place in the knockout stages and Ferguson believes it is more important for van Nistelrooy to face Fulham in the Premiership next Monday.
Challenge people online for real cash prizes. Play online games of skill and win money playing Darts, Golf and F1 racing... "Ruud has this injury at the bottom of his calf and it is proving troublesome," he told the club's official website.
LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Team news and probable line-ups for Tuesday's matches in Champions League Group G:
INTER MILAN v ANDERLECHT
INTER
Suspensions: Adriano (second match of two-match ban)
Injuries: Kily Gonzalez (ankle), Alberto Fontana (foot), Carlos Gamarra (knee)
Doubtful: Belozoglu Emre (hand), Obafemi Martins (illness)
ANDERLECHT
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Daniel Zitka (broken arm), Tristan Peersman (Achilles tendon), Glen De Boeck (cruciate ligaments), Hannu Tihinen (foot), Martin Kolar (knee), Nenad Jestrovic (broken arm)
Doubtful: none
Probable teams:
Inter: 1-Francesco Toldo; 4-Javier Zanetti, 2-Ivan Cordoba, 11-Sinisa Mihajlovic, 16-Giuseppe Favalli; 7-Andy van der Meyde, 14-Juan Sebastian Veron, 19-Esteban Cambiasso, 25-Dejan Stankovic; 20-Alvaro Recoba, 32-Christian Vieri.
Anderlecht: 25-Jan Van Steenberghe; 6-Michal Zewlakow, 27-Vincent Kompany, 34-Lamine Traoré, 3-Olivier Deschacht; 9-Mbo Mpenza, 5-Besnik Hasi, 21-Par Zetterberg, 17-Christian Wilhelmsson; 26-Aruna Dindane, 22-Oleg Iachtchouk
Referee: Mike Riley (England)
Head-to-head record
Played: 5
Wins: Inter 3 Anderlecht 1 Draws 1
Previous meetings
UF: SF 1.04.70 Anderlecht 0 Inter 1
15.04.70 Inter 0 Anderlecht 2
UF: QF 4.03.97 Anderlecht 1 Inter 1
18.03.97 Inter 2 Anderlecht 1
CL: GP 29.09.04 Anderlecht 1 Inter 3
* Inter have failed to score in three of their last six European home matches.
* Anderlecht have lost their last six Champions League games.
- - -
VALENCIA v WERDER BREMEN
VALENCIA
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Roberto Ayala (knee), Francisco Rufete (groin)
Doubtful: Momo Sissoko (ankle), Miguel Angel Angulo (thigh), David Albelda (thigh), Vicente (ankle)
BREMEN
Suspensions: none
Injuries: Gustavo Nery (broken bone in hand)
Doubtful: Ivan Klasnic (shoulder)
Probable teams:
Valencia: 1-Santiago Canizares; 23-Curro Torres, 5-Carlos Marchena, 12-Marco Caneira, 15-Amedeo Carboni; 7-Stefano Fiore, 8-Ruben Baraja, 6-David Albelda, 18-Xisco or 14-Vicente; 21-Pablo Aimar, 11-Marco Di Vaio
Bremen: 1-Andreas Reinke; 3-Petri Pasanen, 6-Frank Baumann, 25-Valerien Ismael, 7-Paul Stalteri; 20-Daniel Jensen, 4-Fabian Ernst, 10-Johan Micoud, 24-Tim Borowski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Angelos Haristeas
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
Head-to-head record
Played: 1 Wins: Werder 1
Previous meeting
CL: GP 29.09.04 Werder 2 Valencia 1
* Valencia have failed to win in each of their last seven matches against German teams.
*Werder have won only two of their last 11 European away games.
Porto v Chelsea
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will rest some of his key players in Porto with his team already through to the next stage of the Champions League.
Mateja Kezman is likely to start up front against the side Mourinho led to the Champions League title last season.
Midfielders Scott Parker and Joe Cole, as well as right-back Glen Johnson, could also make the starting line-up.
Porto's Vitor Baia, Nuno Valente, Raul Meireles are out while Luis Fabiano is doubtful with a thigh injury.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Babayaro, Johnson, Ferreira, Bridge, Gallas, Tiago, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard, Smertin, Cole, Parker, Duff, Kezman, Gudjohnsen, Robben, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, Geremi, Makelele.
....................
BARCA HIT BY STRING OF INJURIES
Barcelona's mounting injury list has seen coach Frank Rijkaard include 11 youth team players in his squad to travel to the Ukraine for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The latest star to fall victim to an ailment is forward Ludovic Giuly, who missed the weekend match against Malaga with a thigh strain and joins the likes of Thiago Motta, Edmilson, Gabri, Gerard, Henrik Larsson and goalkeeper Albert Jorquera on the sidelines.
Fortunately for Rijkaard, the match against Shakhtar is not pivotal to Barca's European hopes as they have already guaranteed qualification from Group F after picking up 10 points from their opening five games.
That puts the Spanish side two points behind group leaders AC Milan, who complete their schedule away at Celtic on Tuesday.
The injury absences did not affect Barca too much at the weekend as they put four past Malaga without reply to stretch their lead at the top of the Primera Liga to nine points over Real Madrid.
And with that performance in mind, Rijkaard has named virtually the same squad for the game against Shakhtar with the only new addition being youngster Rodri Garcia. He replaces full-back Damia Abella who was not registered for the Champions League at the start of the season.
One player who is making the most of the spate of injuries is Spain Under-21 international Andres Iniesta, who replaced Giuly at the weekend and showed yet again why he is tipped for great things, terrorising the Malaga defence as well as scoring Barca's third goal.
"I was surprised to see myself in the headlines after the match but what is really pleasing for me is that the team is continuing its good run," Iniesta said.
"All I can say is thank you very much to the fans because each time that I go onto the pitch I know that I am not on my own."
He added: "We now play against Donetsk where we will go to win, there is no other objective, and then later after that we can start thinking about our next match against Albacete.
"What I want to do now, as do all my team-mates, is to try and finish in first place in our Champions League group although we realise that this is not going to be an easy task."
Although they have lost four of their opening five matches in the group, Shakhtar still have a chance of pipping Celtic for third spot and a place in the UEFA Cup.
The Scottish side are currently third in the standings, a point clear of Shakhtar.
Shakhtar, who warmed up for the game with a 3-1 Premier League win over Volyn last week, are waiting on the fitness of key defender Anatoliy Tymoschuk.
The Ukraine international is struggling with an injury but coach Mircea Lucescu is hoping he will be available to play some part in the match.
"Anatoli trains, runs, and works hard. He is feeling good physically, the only question is if he can kick the ball. It would be great if he could play, if not - we have replacements," Lucescu said.
Lucescu will definitely be without defender Razvan Rat and striker Ciprian Marica.
Marica will be out of action for around three weeks as he needs a knee operation.
...............
Celtic v AC Milan
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill will almost certainly be without Stephen Pearson who has a groin injury.
Stilian Petrov (ankle) did not train on Monday, while Didier Agathe did train but is struggling with a groin problem.
Petrov limped off against Hibs and is struggling to make the game, which Celtic must win to ensure third place.
AC Milan, who are looking to finish top of Group F, are without injured trio Jaap Stam (ankle), Filippo Inzaghi (ankle), and Jon Dahl Tomasson (back)
Reuters. BBC, Sporting Life