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Week three for Champions League Bayern battles Valencia; Man United hosts Marseille
Posted: Monday September 27, 1999 03:02 PM
LONDON (AP) -- The third straight week of Champions League action starts Tuesday with Bayern Munich against Valencia, but Wednesday's Manchester United vs. Olympique Marseille clash tops the bill. After 16 games spread over Tuesday and Wednesday, each team will have completed head-to-heads against all its group rivals, and a clear No. 1 in each of the eight respective pools should emerge. At close to full strength and smarting after slipping to a 3-3 tie against Southampton in Saturday's league game, defending titlist Manchester United should have too much firepower for their injury-ravaged French rivals in Group D. Eight games will be played Tuesday, featuring teams in Groups E to H. The remaining games will go ahead Wednesday. Here's how the groups line up: TUESDAY Group E FC Porto vs. Real Madrid, Olympiakos vs. Molde Porto is in a bullish mood as it heads to neighboring Spain. The Portuguese champion, with two wins from two, leads the group standings and is keen to avenge its 4-0 defeat in Madrid in the Champions League two seasons ago. "We know we're in good form at the moment. Our confidence is high and our results have reflected that," said defender Jorge Costa. Madrid, on four points via a 4-1 win over Molde and a 3-3 tie against Olympiakos, goes into the match without regular goalkeeper Bodo Illgner or French striker Nicolas Anelka, both sidelined with injuries. The game pitches Porto's Mario Jardel, European top scorer for 1998, against Madrid's Raul Gonzalez, who was the continent's No.3 scorer. "Porto will be a tough rival," said Raul. "They will be looking for revenge. But we are a superior team and ... we don't give any points away." The other game is Olympiakos vs. Molde in Athens. Olympiakos coach Dusan Bajevic says he'll only be satisfied with victory against Molde. "If we want to have a chance to [advance], we must win that game," he said. The winless Norwegians are weakened with captain Knut Anders Fostervold nursing a virus and 'keeper Morten Bakke sidelined with a leg injury. Group F Bayern Munich vs. Valencia, PSV Eindhoven vs. Rangers The beaten finalist last season challenges a Valencia team that is yet to notch a win in the Spanish league. This head-to-head could decide the eventual winner, with the teams locked on four points with a win and a tie apiece. Bayern, coming off a 1-0 defeat at home to Stuttgart, has three players injured including defender Marcus Babbel and Brazilian striker Paulo Sergio, midfielder Mario Basler. But manager Ottmar Hitzfeld is confident Bayern will advance to the next round despite last week's last-gasp 1-1 tie with Rangers at Glasgow. "If we win this game, we're practically in the next round. I'm sure that we'll playing better on Tuesday than we did against Stuttgart," he said. At Eindhoven, PSV takes on Scottish champion Rangers in a battle for survival. Group G Bordeaux vs. Spartak Moscow, Sparta Prague vs. Willem II After a narrow 3-2 win over Willem II last week, Bordeaux will field a stronger lineup against the Russians with the return of skipper Michel Pavon and striker Lillian Laslandes. Bordeaux's leaky defense has conceded 11 goals in 8 matches and its woes are compounded with Sylvain Wiltord, the top scorer in the French league last season, misfiring at the other end. But with a win and a tie to date, the French team shares No. 1 spot with Spartak. A result here should produce a clear leader. In the Czech Republic, Sparta Prague is chasing its first Champions League victory against a Willem II team which has conceded six goals in two games. Group H AC Milan vs. Hertha Berlin, Chelsea vs. Galatasaray Milan is likely to start with Brazilian Serginho and Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevechenko, who were rested in Saturday's 4-0 league win against Bologna. Schevchenko will team in front with German striker Oliver Bierhoff, with Brazilian Leonardo just behind them. "We will play for a victory, as another win at home would almost certainly secure a berth in the next round," said coach Alberto Zaccheroni. Meanwhile, tension in the Chelsea vs. Galatasary game started building up when the Turkish team arrived at the airport in London and wasn't greeted by a Blues official. Having been allocated a training ground an hour from its hotel, and being asked to pay for it, didn't help matters. Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim said it would be "suicidal" to lose against the Blues. The Turkish league leader has just one point in two games but is ahead of Chelsea, whose strikers have been misfiring this season. WEDNESDAY Group A Bayer Leverkusen vs. Dynamo Kiev, Lazio vs. NK Maribor Lazio shares the top spot in the Serie A with Inter Milan and is justly confident against its Slovenian opponent despite injury concern over 'keeper Luca Marchegiani. Coach Sven Goran Eriksson is expected to start Marcelo Salas and Alen Boksic in front, supported by veteran Roberto Mancini. The Roman side shares top spot on four points with Leverkusen after the teams played to a 1-1 tie in the opening round on Sept. 14. Leverkusen, atop the German league standings, will be missing Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto when it hosts Dynamo Kiev. After losses to Maribor and Lazio, largely due to the absence of four midfielders, Dynamo coach Valery Lobanovsky still hasn't solved the problem of finding efficient replacements. Group B Barcelona vs. Arsenal, AIK Solna vs. Fiorentina Barca takes on the Gunners in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle. The Spaniards have two wins from two games. The Gunners have four points following a 0-0 tie with Fiorentina and a 3-1 win over AIK at Wembley, although that win was only secured with two injury-time goals. The Arsenal strikers have been missing the target but with last week's hero Thierry Henry on the verge of finding form, the Gunners could dangerous. At Solna, Fiorentina coach Giovanni Trapattoni is planning an offensive team with Batistuta, Enrico Chiesa and Predrag Mijatovic leading the attack against the winless Swedes. Group C Rosenborg vs. Borussia Dortmund, Boavista vs. Feyenoord Norwegian Rosenborg shares top spot with the Germans but could struggle in defense with right back Christer Basma out injured -- an area Feyenoord exploited in last week's 2-2 tie. The German press has been paying plenty of attention to Rosenborg's new 20-year old forward John Carew, who created chaos in the Feyenoord defense last Wednesday. Dortmund will be without striker Fredi Bobic -- the top scorer with three goals in Champions League so far -- with a left thigh muscle injury. Feyenoord, in third place following two ties, has a good chance of grabbing its first win against Portuguese team Boavista, which opened with two defeats. Group D Manchester United vs. Marseille, Croatia Zagreb vs. Sturm Graz United has home advantage against the group leaders, although that didn't stop Southampton coming back for a 3-3 tie at Old Trafford on the weekend. Marseille has two wins from its opening two games but is without its French international strikeforce of Christophe Dugarry, on a four-game ban, and Florin Maurice, who has an ankle injury. Marseille had a couple of lucky escapes against Zagreb with goalkeeper Stephane Porato grabbing some spectacular saves. But skipper Robert Piras said defensive errors against United would be more costly. "We can't make similar mistakes against Yorke or Cole -- they will punish them," he said. United will be close to full strength with skipper Roy Keane expected back in the lineup after missing Saturday's game. But the question mark remains over Alex Ferguson's selection in goal. The United manager has tried three 'keepers in his quest to replace Danish veteran Peter Schmeichel but his latest choice, Italian Massimo Taibi, made a major blunder Saturday by letting a floated speculator from Matt Le Tissier through his grasp. At Zagreb, Robert Prosinecki has returned from injury but officials are undecided about testing him against a Sturm Graz team that has not scored a goal in its two losses.
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