Barcelona hoping to hurdle Werder Bremen

PARIS – Barcelona will look to continue their impressive start to their defence of their Champions League title when they face German club Werder Bremen tonight.

Barcelona crushed Levski Sofia 5-0 in their first group A match and hope to beat Bremen for the third time inside the last 12 months after defeating the German team home and away – 3-1 and 2-0 – at the same stage of last season’s competition. While Barcelona already have the comfort of three points on the board, Bremen have yet to register after losing their opening fixture 2-0 to Chelsea.The fitness of German international attacker Miroslav Klose is crucial for Bremen and coach Thomas Schaaf may take a gamble on the golden boot winner at the World Cup.Inter Milan go into their tie with Bayern Munich having suffered a monumental shock over the weekend in Serie A action, letting a 4-0 lead against Chievo slip and conceding three goals in the final 13 minutes of the match.Inter coach Roberto Mancini admitted that his side had been ahead of themselves during the 4-3 win that saw them top their domestic table.Hernan Crespo’s rich vein of form of three goals in his last two matches is almost certain to see him pip Adriano, who has not scored a goal in all competitions since March 29, for a place in Inter’s starting line-up.Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness admitted that Inter were strong favourites to win the tie.”They’re a class above us this season,” he said.France captain Vieira will be missing for Inter following his red card in Portugal, which earned him a one-match ban.The other Group A tie sees Chelsea travel to Bulgaria to take on local champions Levski Sofia buoyed by the possible return of skipper John Terry who was forced to miss Saturday’s Premiership win over Fulham due to a back problem.And Terry insisted that now is the time for Chelsea to finally come good in Europe’s top club competition.Coach Jose Mourinho won’t settle for anything less than a win in the Bulgarian capital ahead of next month’s double header against Barcelona.Liverpool face a tricky tie against Turkish outfit Galatasaray, but manager Rafael Benitez was confident his players would be boosted by a home game after an early-season fixture list that kept them away from Anfield.Liverpool began their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw away at PSV Eindhoven, a result that Galatasaray matched at Bordeaux, which, with a trip to France next up, means Liverpool will be under pressure if they fail to win at Anfield.PSV travel to Bordeaux in the other Group C tie.Wednesday’s other games see Roma facing a tricky trip to chief Group D rivals Valencia, Spartak Moscow hosting Sporting Lisbon, and Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk playing Olympiakos.Nampa-AFPWhile Barcelona already have the comfort of three points on the board, Bremen have yet to register after losing their opening fixture 2-0 to Chelsea.The fitness of German international attacker Miroslav Klose is crucial for Bremen and coach Thomas Schaaf may take a gamble on the golden boot winner at the World Cup.Inter Milan go into their tie with Bayern Munich having suffered a monumental shock over the weekend in Serie A action, letting a 4-0 lead against Chievo slip and conceding three goals in the final 13 minutes of the match.Inter coach Roberto Mancini admitted that his side had been ahead of themselves during the 4-3 win that saw them top their domestic table.Hernan Crespo’s rich vein of form of three goals in his last two matches is almost certain to see him pip Adriano, who has not scored a goal in all competitions since March 29, for a place in Inter’s starting line-up.Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness admitted that Inter were strong favourites to win the tie.”They’re a class above us this season,” he said.France captain Vieira will be missing for Inter following his red card in Portugal, which earned him a one-match ban.The other Group A tie sees Chelsea travel to Bulgaria to take on local champions Levski Sofia buoyed by the possible return of skipper John Terry who was forced to miss Saturday’s Premiership win over Fulham due to a back problem.And Terry insisted that now is the time for Chelsea to finally come good in Europe’s top club competition.Coach Jose Mourinho won’t settle for anything less than a win in the Bulgarian capital ahead of next month’s double header against Barcelona.Liverpool face a tricky tie against Turkish outfit Galatasaray, but manager Rafael Benitez was confident his players would be boosted by a home game after an early-season fixture list that kept them away from Anfield.Liverpool began their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw away at PSV Eindhoven, a result that Galatasaray matched at Bordeaux, which, with a trip to France next up, means Liverpool will be under pressure if they fail to win at Anfield.PSV travel to Bordeaux in the other Group C tie.Wednesday’s other games see Roma facing a tricky trip to chief Group D rivals Valencia, Spartak Moscow hosting Sporting Lisbon, and Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk playing Olympiakos.Nampa-AFP