UEFA CHAMPIONS NEWS
Fernando Torres will be key on return to Madrid
Fernando Torres was conspicuous by his absence the last time Liverpool visited Madrid, in October. It had become a subject of personal torment for the Spain striker that he was unable to play in either of Liverpool’s Champions League group G matches against Atlético Madrid, his former club, because of injury, but it was the denial of an eagerly awaited “homecoming” to the Spanish capital that proved particularly demoralising.
In Torres’s enforced absence, Liverpool and Atlético supporters stayed behind for at least half an hour after the 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderón Stadium to serenade each other with songs about their hero, a remarkable sight in modern-day football.
Four months on, Torres will finally get a homecoming of sorts, only the cheers are likely to give way to a cacophony of jeers as Liverpool prepare to face Atlético’s sworn cross-city rivals, Real Madrid, in the first leg of their first knockout round tie at the Bernabéu this evening.
With Rafael Benítez likely to delay his decision on whether to start with Steven Gerrard, who has missed the past two matches with a hamstring injury, until the last possible moment, the Merseyside club’s hopes of a positive result against a team who have been reborn under Juande Ramos, the former Tottenham Hotspur head coach, could rest heavily on Torres.
The 24-year-old might have scored the only goal in Spain’s European Championship final win over Germany last summer, but Real fans have never forgiven Torres, his Atlético allegiances aside, for his persistent claims that he would never play for them. The antipathy, though, is mutual. In six years with Atlético, Torres scored only once against Real and never won at the Bernabéu, but he is confident that Liverpool will progress.
“It will be a close game, but it is good that we play the second leg at Anfield,” Torres said. “We will have a better atmosphere. Liverpool fans will be impressed with the Bernabéu because it is a great stadium, but the atmosphere won’t be anything like Anfield. On the face of things Real Madrid are a huge team, but over the last few years in Europe we have proved to be a tough ask for any rival.”
Real’s league form is in stark contrast with that of Liverpool. While Ramos’s team have won their past nine matches in La Liga, Liverpool have drawn eight of their past 13 games in the Barclays Premier League. Real’s confidence is such that Vicente Boluda, the club president, claimed that the Spanish champions would progress 5-1 on aggregate.
However, Benítez, whose side trail Manchester United by seven points, dismissed suggestions that his future could be shaped by the Real tie, even though the Champions League again represents his most realistic chance of silverware. “If you have to decide a manager’s future on the basis of one or two games, that is not the best decision,” the Liverpool manager said. Times Online
Coach Hiddink promises Chelsea passion
Guus Hiddink promises a performance full of "energy and passion" on his home 'debut' as Chelsea coach against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Russian national coach Hiddink agreed to additionally take charge of stuttering Chelsea until the end of the campaign -- and he started with a win at Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
Hiddink admits he is racing against the clock to ensure his coaching methods bring some tangible reward as Chelsea bid for glory in Europe and the FA Cup, and also ensure Champions League action next campaign.
Chelsea face the second-placed Serie A side,managed by former Blues boss Claudio Ranieri in the first leg of their last-16 tie and Hiddink will not accept the lack of preparation time as an excuse for failure.
"I should have two, three or four weeks to observe the team and everything, and then I'd start working," he told PA Sport.
"But there's no time. That's not an aspect of top-level sport, to offer excuses. It has to be done in the moment against Villa and what we have now, home and away, against Juventus.
"Every manager would like four, five or six weeks to implement a lot of things. But I have to do that in a reduced time, a pressured time. But we have to do it.
"I'd like to underline, we must not give ourselves an excuse because, if we do, there's a tendency that we go a little bit less and that's not good in the boys' minds."
Hiddink took PSV Eindhoven to victory in the final of the European Cup in 1988 and later to the last four of the Champions League in 2005.
But he is relishing the new challenge of European football with Chelsea.
"You are among the elite clubs if you're still in the Champions League after the winter," said Hiddink. "That's where a club like this needs to be. It's a very exciting competition for all of us.
"Being in charge for the first time is special. We had a good first game at Villa, so that takes away a little bit of the first excitement.
"But being in this competition with this home crowd, I think everyone can expect a lot from the team in the way of energy and passion."
But he admitted Ranieri will not make it easy for his former club.
"He's (Ranieri) a gentleman coach," said Hiddink. "He's very intelligent. Modest is maybe not the word, but he knows how to cope with the press and the pressure in this particular job. I respect him very much.
"He has several abilities. When he was working here, he made a team that was very competitive for the Premier League.
"Secondly, recently, he's very good at organising his team. His teams show themselves to have enormous tactical discipline. It's very difficult to play those teams that he is managing."
CNN International
Bayern confident in Toni for Sporting clash
Bayern Munich are hoping to have Luca Toni back for their Champions League clash at Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday after the Italian striker recovering from a heel injury.
Bayern have lost three of their last four league games - including an embarrassing 2-1 reverse at home to strugglers Cologne on Saturday - and need Toni back for their trip to Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium.
Toni limped off during the first-half of Bayern's 2-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin ten days ago with an achilles tendon injury, but Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann is optimistic the striker, top-scorer in the league here last season, will start.
"I am confident he will play," said Klinsmann.
"Toni has looked good in training and we are hoping he will play."
In his absence, Lukas Podolski and Landon Donovan played a half each against Cologne, but Klinsmann said he was far from happy with the result.
"You could clearly see that his presence was missing against Cologne," said Klinsmann.
"He always takes up two markers which gives more space for our other striker Miroslav Klose."
And Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the German giants need to buck up their ideas if they are to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
"We've lost two in a row in the league, and we need to get out of this rut very quickly, starting with Wednesday's game in Lisbon," said the Bayern boss.
Although Toni could have played against Cologne, Klinsmann opted to keep Toni and Brazilian defender Lucio back in reserve for the Lisbon game.
Recent results means Bayern are fourth in the Bundesliga while Sporting are third in the Portuguese league.
They enjoyed a 3-2 win over Benfica on Saturday with two goals from Brazil-born forward Liedson, who has expressed an interest in playing for Portugal.
But despite Bayern's poor recent run history is against Sporting, who are aiming to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.
In 14 games against opponents from Germany Sporting have yet to register a victory.
Moreover, Bayern's record in European club competition against teams from Portugal is equally daunting: in 20 games the Bundesliga champions have only tasted defeat on one occasion and that came in the 1987 European Champion Clubs' Cup final. AFP
Villarreal faces Panathinaikos in Champions League
Villarreal's near-perfect Champions League home record will come up against a Panathinaikos team that has played well on the road.
Villarreal, which reached the competition's semifinals in 2006, has never lost a Champions League match at El Madrigal stadium, and its next test will come Wednesday in the first leg of the second round. But after a superb start to the campaign, the Spanish team has struggled to only four victories in its last 17 matches in all competitions.
"The Yellow Submarine" did rally to beat last-place Sporting Gijon on Saturday for its second win in three games, however.
"We're back to being the team we were at the start of the season because we're improving the collective aspect, which is rooted in our good individual moments," Spain midfielder Santiago Cazorla said. "It's very hard to maintain this over the whole course of a season and every team suffers the same problems."
Villarreal will be without center back Gonzalo Rodriguez (leg), while defender Joan Capdevila and striker Guille Franco both miss out because of suspension.
Panathinaikos coach Henk ten Cate, who led his team to impressive victories at Werder Bremen and Inter Milan in the group stage, has few injury problems with only Greece defender Loukas Vyntra doubtful.
Ten Cate rested several key players for Saturday's Greek league win over Panionios, including Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva.
The former Arsenal player said his teammates should draw off their strong away form even if Panathinaikos has lost on all nine prior visits to Spain. Villarreal is 2-0 against Greek opposition at El Madrigal.
"It's up to us whether we qualify or not. Everything will depend on our performance," Silva told Ethnosport magazine. "We've already beaten Inter in Milan, so why couldn't we eliminate Villarreal?"
Panathinaikos is second in the Greek league but trails league leader Olympiakos by 11 points. International Herald Tribune
