Pro Eleven Headline News
Chelsea and Roma face Euro fright night
Chelsea and Roma, packed with superstars but dogged by European inconsistency, face a potential Champions League fright night on Tuesday as the group stages of the money-spinning tournament come to an end.
Roma top Group A with nine points ahead of their final group match at home to French side Bordeaux, who are two points behind and still in contention for a place in the last 16.
Chelsea, last year's runners-up and second behind Roma on eight points, tackle Romanian minnows Cluj and should progress although they go into the Stamford Bridge game with rumours of splits in the squad.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari failed to appear for the post-match news conference after Saturday's 2-0 win at Bolton leaving assistant Ray Wilkins to deny that senior players like skipper John Terry and Frank Lampard were unhappy with the Brazilian's training methods.
Scolari refuses to believe Chelsea will slip up against the Romanians who have no chance of progressing.
A victory will ensure Chelsea qualify, although they would still make the knockout round if they do not win and Bordeaux fail to pick up three points in Rome.
"Is it unthinkable that Chelsea go out? Well, I don't think any people in the world are thinking about this, but it is possible because we have given this opportunity to other teams," Scolari said.
Home defeats to Arsenal, Liverpool and Burnley, as well as lacklustre displays away in Europe have raised questions and their task on Tuesday isn't helped by Lampard's absence through suspension.
Roma are 13th in Serie A while their unpredictable form has also affected their European campaign where they have won three games but lost two, including an embarrassing home defeat to Cluj.
The Italians warmed up for the visit of Bordeaux with a 1-0 win over Chievo on Saturday for their fourth win in a row.
"Tuesday will be vital, a game that has captured the public's imagination," said Roma coach Luciano Spalletti.
But he could be without highly-rated Montenegran striker Mirko Vucinic, the scorer of three goals in the competition, who has a knee injury.
Roma won the first match with Bordeaux 3-1.
The only other spot in the last 16 still up for grabs is in Group B.
Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, who have already qualified, travel to rock-bottom Werder Bremen while unfashionable Anorthosis Famagusta aim to make history by becoming the first Cypriot side in the knockout round.
They go to riot-torn Athens to face Panathinaikos needing to beat the Greeks to qualify but they will be without experienced Brazilian midfielder Savio who has a knee injury.
Elsewhere, Group C winners Barcelona, with 13 points from five games, welcome Shakhtar Donetsk who have already wrapped up the UEFA Cup place awarded to the third place finishers.
Second-placed Sporting Lisbon go to Basel in Switzerland.
Liverpool travel to PSV Eindhoven having already qualified from Group D but looking to finish in top spot.
Rafael Benitez's side have 11 points as do Atletico Madrid who go to Marseille where they face a stormy reception after a fan of the French club was jailed for three and a half years last week for attacking a policeman in the first match between the two sides.
The group stages will be completed on Wednesday but the final four groups have already been decided with the likes of defending champions Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Arsenal and Bayern Munich guaranteed places in the next round. AFP
Panathinaikos looks for third straight win
Panathinaikos coach Henk Ten Cate has told players to keep attacking Tuesday when the Greek team faces Anorthosis Famagusta with a spot in the knockout round of the Champions League on the line.
Panathinaikos, which has won two straight in Group B, needs only a draw Tuesday to advance to the next round along with Inter Milan. Werder Bremen is out of contention.
"Not many clubs have the opportunity to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League and we shouldn't miss it," said Ten Cate, who celebrates his 54th birthday Tuesday. "Qualification is in our hands."
Panathinaikos has seven points following away wins over Bremen and Inter, and received a weekend boost with a 2-1 win in the Greek league against Xanthi despite playing most of the match with 10 men.
Playmaker Giorgos Karagounis, who was rested against Xanthi, will be available Tuesday to play at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium. But Ten Cate is missing the defensive trio of Mikael Nilsson, Bryce Moon and Gabriel — making the hosts potentially more vulnerable to their must-win opponents.
Anorthosis began its maiden Champions League campaign with a draw at Bremen and a win over Panathinaikos. But with key players injured and six points in the group, coach Temuri Ketsbaia is asking his players to go for the upset in Athens.
"We look ahead," Ketsbaia said. "On Tuesday, we have an important match where we will do our best and we will play to advance."
If Anorthosis advances, it would become the first Cypriot team to reach to the knockout stage of the Champions League. But the team's surprise form has been sobered by an embezzlement scandal that saw the club's chairman detained for questioning before eventually being forced to step down.
On the field, Brazilian midfielder Savio is nursing a knee injury and is a doubtful starter. Regular goalkeeper Arian Beqaj is set to return from injury.
Julio Cesar: Inter Must Defeat Werder Bremen
Inter Milan travel to Bremen this week, aware of the fact that victory will secure their spot at the top of Group B in this season’s Champions League.
The Nerazzurri currently have eight points from five matches, and could have sealed top spot in the penultimate match day, had they been able to find the back of the net.
Despite having a countless number of opportunities against Panathinaikos two weeks ago, Jose Mourinho’s men failed to hit the target, and went down 1-0 as a result.
In the lead up to this week’s clash with Werder Bremen, the club’s keeper Julio Cesar has made some comments regarding the significance of the contest, by expressing the desires of the players.
“We want to finish in first place in the group, and so it’s simple – we must defeat Werder this week,” the goalkeeper said in an interview with Sky.
He went on to stress the threat of the German, who despite not winning yet, have only been defeated once in five matches: “Tomorrow Diego will not play for them, however we must be very careful, as they are a dangerous side.”
The 29-year-old made a final comment regarding the Serie A, and the stunning performances of his side thus far.
“The championship is very balanced at the moment, much more than ever before.
“We are doing very well though, and so we must only think about ourselves,” he concluded.
Inter face Bremen this Tuesday at the Weserstadion in Bremen, with play getting underway at 20:45 CET. Goal
Special : Asians In Europe
Javad Nekounam (Iran and Osasuna)
An amazing game in pamplona and a second goal in consecutive games for Nekounam. The midfielder struck just before the break with a smart volley to put his team 2-0 up against Valladolid. Osasuna went on to lead 3-0 before being pegged back to draw 3-3 and stay bottom.
Park Ji-sung (South Korea and Manchester United)
Park made his 15th appearance of the season and played the first hour as United eventually defeated Sunderland 1-0. Busy as always, Park is still having problems scoring.
Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan and Celtic)
Was an unused substitute as Celtic lost 2-0 at Hibernian. It ended a week in which the playmaker's future was again debated in the international media...
Masoud Shojaei (Iran and Osasuna)
Shojaei sat on the bench as Osasuna let a 3-0 lead slip at home to Valladolid.
Makoto Hasebe (Japan and Wolfsburg)
The ex-Urawa Reds man played the full ninety minutes as Wolfsburg defeated Hannover 2-1.
Park Chu-young (South Korea and AS Monaco)
Park played his 13th consecutive match for Monaco who drew 1-1 with Sochaux.
Hussein Sulimani (Saudi Arabia and Neuchatel Xamax)
Is still injured and missed the 1-0 loss at Vaduz.
Takayuki Morimoto (Japan and Catania)
The young striker was not in the squad as Catania lost 1-0 at AC Milan.
Shao Jiayi (China and Energie Cottbus)
The midfielder missed the eastern outfit’s defeat at home to Stuttgart.
Youssef Mohamad (Lebanon and FC Koln)
The defender was unable to stop Hamburg winning 2-1 and consigning Koln to a fourth straight midfielder.
Lee Young-pyo (South Korea and Borussia Dortmund)
Lee played a 13th consecutive full game as Dortmund were held to another goalless draw – this time by Arminia Bielefeld.
Vahid Hashemian (Iran and Bochum)
The helicopter is still injured after Iran’s World Cup qualifier in UAE last month and missed Bochum’s 1-1 draw with Hamburg.
Junichi Inamoto (Japan and Eintracht Frankfurt)
Inamoto played the first half as Frankfurt defeated Bochum 4-0. These days the team either wins or lose heavily.
Roda Antar (Lebanon and Koln)
A fourth straight defeat for Koln. Antar played the whole game as Koln lost 2-1 at home to Hamburg. Antar had a good game after sitting out the match on the previous weekend.
Kim Do-heon (South Korea and West Brom)
Was an unused substitute as the Baggies drew 1-1 with Portsmouth.
Daisuke Matsui (Japan and St Etienne)
Les Verts won again – this time with a 2-0 win against Le Havre. Matsui had a good ninety minutes in the middleof the park.
Mehdi Mahdavikia (Iran and Eintracht Frankfurt)
Kia replaced Inamoto at half-time and looked good as Frankfurt thrashed Bochum 4-0.
Seol Ki-hyeon (South Korea and Fulham)
The Sniper has some injury niggles and didn’t feature against Manchester City.
Andranik Teymourian (Iran and Fulham)
Iranian international Andranik Teymourian has claimed Arsenal are among the clubs to have shown an interest in him. In May 2008 he was not offered a new contract by Bolton and joined the likes of Ivan Campo and Stelios Giannakopoulos in leaving the club. On June 12, 2008 Andranik signed a 2-year contract with Fulham. He is noted for being the only Christian footballer in the Iranian national team, in which he has excellent relations with all of his team-mates.
Shinji Ono (Japan and Bochum)
Ono was on the bench as Bochum lost 4-0 at Frankfurt.
Ali Al Habsi (Oman and Bolton)
A familiar story for the giant goalkeeper who was an unused substitute as Bolton lost 2-0 to Chelsea.