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Champions League - Matchday 4

Group A continues on Tuesday night with Chelsea having the opportunity to clinch their place in the knock-out stages.

The London club had the perfect preparation for their Champions League match by defeating Sunderland 5-0 and went back to the top of the English Premier League.

Anelka got a hat-trick and Frank Lampard scored his 100th league goal and the Blues will be brimming with confidence when they travel to Rome to face Roma. Chelsea won the corresponding fixture 1-0 through a John Terry goal and with Roma sitting four points behind Chelsea. An away victory will allow the English league leaders to turn their attentions back towards domestic matters.

Plucky Cluj Hanging In There
The other match in Group A sees CFR Cluj hosting Bordeaux looking to maintain their second place in the group and avenge the 1-0 defeat in France.

CFR Cluj were unfortunate with the only goal of the game coming from an own goal with Cadu putting through his own goal. The Romanian team have been one of the surprise packages of this seasons Champions League and many neutrals will be hoping that they can sneak through to the knock out rounds.

Mourinho Having Tricky Time
Group B sees Inter Milan in a similar position to Chelsea where they travel to a team who they recently defeated 1-0 and an away victory over Anorthosis Famagusta will likely place Inter Milan into the last 16 of the Champions League.

Jose Mourinho was appointed to the Inter hot seat to bring some European success to the club but victory on Wednesday will go some way to redeeming himself in the eyes of the fans. Recent domestic results have not been too strong and Mourinho has struggled of late to convince the Italian media and fans that he is indeed the Special One.

The other game in Group B sees Werder Bremen host Panathinaikos with the German club yet to win a game in this seasons Champions League. However, they haven't lost a game either as they have drawn all three games they have played so far and a win over their Greek rivals would give them a strong chance of making it through the group stage. Their opponents are currently stuck at the bottom of the group needing a positive result to add to the solitary point that they currently hold.

Barcelona In Great Form
Barcelona have been flying in Group C of the Champions League and as they also returned to the top of La Liga, it has been a positive few weeks for the Catalan giants. Their perfect record in the Champions League so far has seen them pick up nine points and have a positive goal difference of 8 at the moment.

Their match this week sees them playing at Camp Nou against FC Basle in a return of the match which saw Barcelona win 5-0 in Switzerland. It would take a brave person to bet against Barcelona moving onto twelve points and securing their place in the knock out round of the Champions League.

The battle for runners up spot is hotting up and the match between Sporting Lisbon and Shakhtar Donestk in Lisbon should give a strong indication of who is going through with Barcelona. The green and white hoops from Lisbon hold the upper hand with their away victory in the Ukraine but this match will be another tight match which could go either way.

Liverpool and Athletico Toss Up
The Tuesday night action is completed with Group D as Liverpool and Athletico Madrid face off again in an attempt to split the two teams. Both clubs are currently locked on seven points after their 1-1 draw in Madrid and Liverpool will be hoping to bounce back from their weekend defeat.

Top played bottom at Whit Hart Lane but Spurs pulled off a massive shock when Pavyluchenko stole an injury time winner to consign Liverpool to their first defeat of the season. Liverpool have been grinding out results so far this season but how they bounce back from this initial setback will go a long way to proving their credentials for putting up a genuine challenge this season.

All Eyes on Celtic Park
Wednesday night sees the return of the Battle of Britain with Celtic Park being the host for Celtic versus Manchester United. The English and European champions were easy winners when the teams played at Old Trafford a fortnight ago but memories of Celtic stunning Celtic Park triumph over United a few years back will be recalled by many people heading along to the match on Wednesday.

The vast majority of the crowd will be praying that a repeat of Shunsuke Nakamuras stunning free kick can be achieved to give the Scottish champions another famous victory. Both clubs prepared for the match with domestic triumph with Celtic remaining at the top of the SPL. The other game in Group E could see Villarreal clinch their place in the knock out stage if results go their way.

Bayern Munich Stuttering
Group F sees leaders Bayern Munich travel to Fiorentina to face the team they defeated 3-0 a fortnight ago. This convincing win has been the highlight of Bayerns season and a victory in Italy could see the German champions book their place in the last 16 of the tournament. The other Group F match sees Lyon welcome Steau Bucharest and the French champions will be confident of completing the double triumph after winning the away game 5-3.

Arsenal may be struggling in their domestic league but they sit atop Group G and with a home match against Fenerbahce to come, the Gooners will be looking to end the week on 10 points. The other game sees Dynamo Kiev welcome FC Porto and with a 1-0 away victory in Portugal a fortnight ago, there will be high hopes for a home win on Wednesday night.

European Giants Clash Again
The final group of the Champions League sees Juventus head to the Bernabeu to battle Real Madrid again with the Italian club holding a one point advantage over their Spanish rivals.

Juventus may top the group at the moment but Real will be hopeful of toppling their rivals and going back to the top of Group H and looking to secure their place in the knock out stages.

With the halfway stage of the Champions League group stages being reached, the action is starting to become even more intense and by the end of this round of matches, a number of teams will have done enough to secure their passage to the knock out stages of the Champions League.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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