Premier League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool face compelling ties as they reach the midway point of the Champions League group stage.
Chelsea bank on the likely return of their veterans when they play AS Roma; Benitez wary about injuries ahead of the game against Atletico, while Mourinho’s Inter host Anorthisis and Barca take on Swiss champs FC Basel
PARIS: Premier League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool face compelling ties as they reach the midway point of the Champions League group stage. Chelsea, with four points from their first two games, host AS Roma on the back of their highest ever win under Luiz Felipe Scolari, a 5-0 thrashing at Middlesbrough.
Chelsea upbeat
Roma travel to north London anxious after Saturday’s sobering 4-0 loss to Inter Milan. With next weekend’s Liverpool clash looming, Scolari will be calling on all his big game expertise to get through what the Brazilian describes as his most taxing week since taking over at Stamford Bridge.
“I have been thinking about Roma and Liverpool and yes, this is the toughest week so far,” admitted Scolari. “I am happy because against Roma I will maybe have Ricardo Carvalho, Petr Cech, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole,” said Scolari.
Chelsea head the standings on goal difference from Romanian Cluj who are away to pointless Bordeaux.
Top-of-the-table clash
Liverpool take on Atletico without the Spanish side’s former striker Fernando Torres, the Euro 2008 winner, who picked up a hamstring injury in Spain’s World Cup qualifier against Belgium last week.
This top-of-the-table clash in Group D only goes ahead in the Spanish capital after UEFA lifted its two-match stadium ban on Atletico. Liverpool, on a 15-match unbeaten run, know a win at the Vicente Calderon will virtually seal their place in the knockout stages.
Manager Rafael Benitez said: “We can field a team good enough to beat Atletico. We have a few minor injury problems to (Yossi) Benayoun, (Steven) Gerrard and (Robbie) Keane, but I do not expect them to be serious, they should all play.”
Milan take on Anorthisis
Roma’s weekend nemesis Inter Milan face Anorthisis both clubs locked on points and goal difference at the top of Group B. Cypriot minnows Anorthisis have proved the surprise package in the group, taking four points from their first two games but are up against it here with Jose Mourinho’s Inter buoyant after their four-star display at the weekend.
Anorthosis cannot do any worse than their previous clashes against Italian opposition, both times in the UEFA Cup. In 1992/93 they were trounced 10-1 on aggregate by Juventus in the first round and three years ago they went down 6-1 overall to Palermo.
Barca meet their makers
After years of inspiring football fans around the world, FC Barcelona will face the lesser-known Swiss club FC Basel, which claims to have been the inspiration behind the creation of the Spanish giants.
Swiss champions Basel have organised an exhibition at their stadium museum ahead of the Champions League encounter, showing how businessman and former Basel player Hans Gamper migrated to Spain before founding FC Barcelona in 1899. Werder Bremen, with two points take on Greek strugglers Panathinaikos.
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