Champions League - Champions League preview

Eurosport - Wed, 12 Dec 12:00:00 2007

Rangers will join city rivals Celtic in the last 16 with a point against Lyon tonight, while Arsenal will try and steal first spot in Group H from Sevilla.

FOOTBALL 2007-2008 Champions League Rangers players celebrate goal v Lyon - 0

Click the links on the right for probable teams from all eight games, and LIVE text commentary from 7.45pm!

Group E

Rangers v Lyon

Rangers go into their crunch game with Lyon level on points, but safe in the knowledge that a draw will be enough to see them through on the head-to-head rule thanks to their 3-0 win in France earlier in the competition.

Rangers should be fresh after having their match with Gretna at the weekend postponed to allow them extra preparation time. However, Jean-Claude Darcheville, Nacho Novo and DaMarcus Beasley are all missing and manager Walter Smith could play Daniel Cousin as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation.

Lyon lost 1-0 at Caen last weekend, but the French league leaders left out Fabio Grosso and restricted Juninho and Sidney Govou to second-half substitute appearances in that game. Ivorian striker Kader Keita was initially denied entry to Scotland before being granted an emergency visa in time for the game.

Barcelona v VfB Stuttgart

Barcelona have already qualified as group winners, and the Germans are not even in contention for a UEFA Cup place, so there is nothing but pride to play for at the Camp Nou. Expect makeshift line-ups to reflect the relative unimportance of the game.

Group F

Roma v Manchester United

With United already through as Group winners and with a big match against Liverpool coming up at the weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand will all be rested for the game in Italy.

Wayne Rooney will start as captain however, and the likes of Danny Simpson, Jonny Evans, Nani, Darren Fletcher, Louis Saha, Febian Brandy and Sam Hewson should all figure.

Roma have also already qualified so could too rest a number of players. They welcome back Philippe Mexes but Alberto Aquilani and Marco Cassetti are out. Manchester born Simone Perrotta is struggling with a groin strain.

Sporting v Dynamo Kiev

UEFA Cup bound Sporting will look to end their campaign with a home victory over pointless Dynamo Kiev.

Tiago is a doubt for Sporting, but Dynamo Kiev have far greater problems, with the Ukrainians in the midst of an injury crisis. They could have as many as 12 first team players out for the match.

Group G

Fenerbahce v CSKA

Fenerbache know that they only need to better PSV's result at Inter in their home game with CSKA to book their place in the last 16.

Tumer Metin is out and Stephen Appiah will undergo a late fitness test but coach Zico has no other injury worries ahead of the game.

Meanwhile, CSKA will be without Brazilian trio Jo, Vagner Love and Carvalho who have all been left out of the side in recent games for unknown reasons. The Russian side's problems don't end there either, with Elvir Rahimic and Dudu both suspended and Vasily Berezutsky injured.

PSV v Inter

PSV top scorer Danny Koeverman is a doubt for the Inter match with a hamstring injury while Ghanaian defender Eric Addo (suspended) and Manuel da Costa (knee) will definitely miss out.

The Dutch side need to win, as even if they draw and Fenerbache lose to CSKA, the Turks will go through as they have the better head-to-head record.

It is a good time for PSV to face the group winners though, as Inter have Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Walter Samuel and Nicolas Burdisso all suspended; while their lengthy injury list includes the likes of Francesco Toldo, Olivier Dacourt, Luis Figo, Patrick Vieira, Dejan Stankovic and Luis Jimenez.

Group H

Arsenal v Steaua Bucharest

Arsenal will finish top of the group if they beat Steaua Bucharest at home and Sevilla fail to win in Prague.

Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby are back in contention for Arsenal, while Jens Lehmann should start in goal. Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Mathieu Flamini (thigh) and Alexander Hleb (Achilles) are all still sidelined.

Steaua, who can't even qualify for the UEFA Cup, come to London with low morale after their owner Gigi Becali announced at the weekend that he would cut the players' wages and bonuses in a bid to save his team from a disappointing season.

Slavia Prague v Sevilla

Sevilla go to Prague after having beaten Real Murcia 3-1 at the weekend to end a run of three defeats and a draw from their previous four games. However, Seydou Keita and Adriano are missing through suspension, Alexander Kerzhakov and Andres Palop are injured, and Federico Fazio has been omitted for technical reasons.

Slavia will be without Dusan Svento, Petr Janda and David Kalivoda who all have knee injuries, while Frantisek Doizial, Martin Latka (both thigh), Stanislav Vleek (calf) and Michal Svec (ankle) also miss out.

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