Liverpool and Chelsea hope to complete the first half of an English European masterclass on Tuesday by reaching the Champions League quarterfinals.

Five-time champions Liverpool, who have been in turmoil off the pitch while trying to pursue Manchester United in the Premier League on it, are 1-0 ahead against nine-time winners Real Madrid after the first leg of their last 16 tie.

In front of an Anfield crowd, comfortably used to European rollercoasters, Rafael Benitez's men will be favourites to make the quarterfinals.

But it's a crucial week for Liverpool as they face United in the Premier League on Saturday where they need to eat into the champions' seven-point lead.

"When you play two games in a week it is not easy to prepare for the next game, so physically and tactically we have been able to do more things," Benitez told the club's official website.

"This week will be very important. You can talk about crucial games in the season, but these two important games this week could make a very big difference."

Liverpool will welcome back skipper Steven Gerrard while striker Fernando Torres is keen to impress against after suffering an ankle injury in the first leg.

Real, who were out of sorts in a fortunate 1-1 draw with derby rivals Atelico Madrid on Saturday as they fell six points behind Barcelona in the Spanish title race, fell to a late away goal through Youssi Benayoun in the first leg.

But Madrid's Portuguese stopper Pepe believes Liverpool will come out to attack and that will leave gaps for Real to exploit.

"It will be different to the first match because at Anfield I don't think Liverpool will be as defensive as they were at the Santiago Bernabeu," said Pepe. "We have to take advantage of that to qualify for the next round."

Chelsea, last year's runners-up, have the trickier assignment, taking a 1-0 lead to Juventus, coached by Claudio Ranieri, a former coach at Stamford Bridge before being ejected by Roman Abramovich, the club's Russian owner impatient to land the continent's most glittering prize.

Juventus rested a host of first choice players for Saturday's 1-0 derby victory away to Torino and Ranieri, now without Mali midfielder Momo Sissoko because of a broken foot, will tinker again on Tuesday.

"We played three days before (the Torino game) against Lazio and for me it was very important to rotate the players and of course on Tuesday there will be a different team," said the coach.

"It's a huge game for us and for Chelsea. We're the underdogs and they are the favourites but in front of our crowd we will try to do something special."

Chelsea have been more solid under new coach Guus Hiddink than they were with Luiz Felipe Scolari.

They also have the added bonus of Michael Essien coming back to fitness and Didier Drogba returning to form. Essien played 35 minutes of Saturday's FA Cup victory against Coventry and Hiddink is considering him for Tuesday.

Drogba, however, is a certainty to start. "He's dangerous and I think he's very good for the team as well," said Hiddink.

Should Liverpool and Chelsea win, then Manchester United and Arsenal can make it four English sides in the last eight if they beat Inter Milan and Roma respectively on Wednesday.

Bayern Munich are 5-0 ahead against Sporting Lisbon and with his team virtually assured of a place in the last eight, coach Jurgen Klinsmann will make changes to his team for Tuesday.

Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni and French midfielder Franck Ribery both scored twice in Portugal, but both will be missing with injuries for the second leg at Munich's Allianz Arena.

Squad players such as Argentina forward Jose Ernesto Sosa, Brazilian defender Breno, defender Andreas Ottl and reserve goalkeeper Hans Joerg Butt look set to feature.

In Athens, Panathinaikos and Villarreal are 1-1 with the Greeks favoured to qualify having won eight and lost just one of nine ties in the Champions League when they have drawn the first leg on their travels.

AFP

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook