Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are both
looking to secure a spot in the Round of 16 when they square off at
Santiago Bernabéu in UEFA Champions League Group B on Tuesday night.
Real Madrid, coming off of a 3-0 loss at FC Barcelona on Saturday, and
Leverkusen can both earn a spot in the knockout phase should they claim
all three points. Leverkusen defeated Madrid 3-0 at the BayArena back on
Matchday 1.
The only injury woe for Real Madrid appears to be key midfielder Luis
Figo. Figo twisted his ankle in the loss at Camp Nou over the weekend
and will face a late fitness test to see if he can go for Mariano García
Remón’s team. Defender Iván Helguera appears set to feature after a knee
problem.
Aside from long-term injuries Jermaine Jones and Clemens Fritz, Klaus
Augenthaler will only be missing attacking midfielder Robson Ponté who
is suspended for the match. Leverkusen also lost 3-0 on the weekend to
Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.
Dynamo Kiev can take a big step toward a spot in the final 16 if they
can defeat AS Roma at the Valery Lobanovksiy stadium on Tuesday.
There are several scenarios which could put Dynamo into the knockout
rounds, but the only sure way is to come out victorious against a
still-struggling Roma side, and then win at the BayArena in two weeks.
The last match between Dynamo and Roma ended in an ugly fashion when
referee Anders Frisk was hit by a missile thrown from the crowd at
half-time with Dynamo leading 1-0. The Ukrainians were awarded a 3-0
default victory and Roma were given a fine and stadium ban.
Good news for Dynamo coach Josef Szabo is that he should have defender
Rodolfo fit to take on Roma tomorrow night and also Yuriy Dmytrulin is
back after a long absence with a knee injury. This should give Szabo a
full-strength squad to select from.
Both Daniele De Rossi and Christian Panucci are suspended after being
sent off three weeks ago against Bayer Leverkusen and also Francesco
Totti (family reasons) and Vincenzo Montella (flu) have not made the
trip, leaving coach Luigi Del Neri with selection problems. Mancini,
Philippe Mexes, and Christian Chivu are also out for Roma. |