United and Dynamo in fine form
Saturday, 20 November 2004
uefa.com rounds up all the news from UEFA Champions League Groups A-D, which
stage Tuesday's fixtures.

GROUP A

AS Monaco FC will look forward to the return of Argentinian striker Javier
Saviola and Uruguayan front man Ernesto Chevantón from international duty
for the visit of Liverpool FC on Tuesday after the pair missed Friday's 3-1
loss to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. It was Monaco's eighth game without victory
in Ligue 1 and they dropped to sixth place, eleven points behind leaders
Olympique Lyonnais. Liverpool welcomed back captain Steven Gerrard after a
two-month lay off with a broken bone in his foot on Saturday, but the England
midfield player's 34 minutes against Middlesbrough FC were not enough for to
prevent a 2-0 Premiership defeat that leaves his side in eighth. Manager
Rafael Benítez is without injured strikers Milan Baro? and Djibril Cissé,
and today he partnered Luis García with Harry Kewell in a makeshift lineup,
and tried Florent Sinama-Pongolle late on.

Olympiacos CFP defeated OFI Crete 3-0 on Saturday to stay within two points
of Greek leaders Panathinaikos FC, thanks to two goals from Giovanni and one
late on from Rivaldo on his domestic return from injury. Right-back Dimitrios
Mavrogenidis is still recovering from a quad injury while striker Ioannis
Okkas and midfield player Predrag Djordjevic were both rested to recover full
fitness for Tuesday. RC Deportivo La Coru?a must win at Olympiacos to keep
alive any hopes of progress and need a goal to avoid becoming only the second
team not to score in their opening five group games. However, on Saturday
they were boosted with a 2-0 win against Villarreal CF, Diego Tristán
scoring the first and Albert Luque chipping the second. Coach Javier Irureta
has the entire squad at his disposal apart from Walter Pandiani, who is
recovering from lumbago while Víctor Sánchez who was granted leave at the
weekend, will be available in Greece.

GROUP B

Real Madrid CF suffered a 3-0 defeat by bitter rivals FC Barcelona at Camp
Nou on Saturday with Samuel Eto'o, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ronaldinho
finding the net. Iván Helguera failed to pass a late fitness test on his
right knee and did not take part as Madrid fell four points behind the
Primera División leaders. A win on Tuesday against Bayer 04 Leverkusen would
take Madrid through. The German side fell to their first home Bundesliga
defeat of the season as they were beaten 3-0 by FC Schalke 04. However, they
have no new injury worries ahead of their trip to Madrid, Leverkusen only
without long-term absentees Jermaine Jones, who is suffering from a torn calf
ligament and Clemens Fritz, who is out with a broken leg.

FC Dynamo Kyiv went to the top of the Ukrainian Premier League on Friday -
although FC Shakhtar Donetsk reclaimed their one-point advantage the
following day - as the champions defeated FC Volyn Lutsk 4-0. Brazilian duo
Diogo Rincón and Kleber scored before the break and two Ruslan Bidnenko
goals after the interval confirmed Dynamo's victory. Their Tuesday visitors,
already-eliminated AS Roma, need a win to keep alive any UEFA Cup hopes,
However, on Friday they were defeated 2-1 at home by AC Siena in the first
leg of their second-round Italian Cup tie. Tore André Flo scored twice,
either side of a Francesco Totti goal. Olivier Dacourt and Christian Panucci
are still injured, while Totti is set to be rested against Dynamo.

GROUP C

Like Roma, confirmed Group C winners Juventus FC suffered an Italian Cup
defeat, losing 2-0 to Atalanta BC. Fabio Capello picked an understrength
team, Pavel Nedved the only familiar starter - and he left the pitch with a
leg injury that could rule him out of the visit of AFC Ajax on Tuesday. Ajax
warmed up in style for their 250th European game with a 5-0 Eredivisie win at
De Graafschap. Julien Escudé opened the scoring three minutes into the
second half, after which Mauro Rosales, Escudé again, 17-year-old Ryan Babel
and Tomás Galásek added to the lead. Steven Pienaar and goalkeeper Bogdan
Lobont are both out with knee ligament injuries while John O'Brien is
sidelined with a pulled hamstring muscle. Defender Johnny Heitinga missed the
weekend game due to water on the knee but could return on Tuesday.

FC Bayern München lost Roy Makaay to an ankle injury an hour into their 3-1
win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday - a result that took them to the
summit of the Bundesliga for the first time since May 2003. Further
examinations will determine his fitness ahead of the match the visit of
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC. Sebastian Deisler returned to action against
Kaiserslautern as a second half substitute. Maccabi suffered their third
successive defeat and slipped to 14 points behind Maccabi Haifa FC after a
3-0 defeat by the leaders. Goalkeeper Liran Strauber was sent off in added
time, and with no substitutions left midfield player Bruno Reis to took over
and conceded the resultant Giovani Rosso penalty that completed the scoring.
Forward Barukh Dego missed the game due to a domestic suspension.

GROUP D

Manchester United FC, defeated Charlton Athletic FC 2-0 to move into fifth in
the Premiership. In Sir Alex Ferguson's 999th game in charge, two of his
stalwart players, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, scored the goals, with Louis
Saha sidelined with an ankle injury that rules him out for a month. Roy Keane
and Ruud van Nistelrooij were taken off early to prepare for Sir Alex's 100th
match, the visit of Olympique Lyonnais, who were held 0-0 by ten-man Paris
Saint-Germain FC on Friday, though they still sit three points clear in Ligue
1. Paul Le Guen welcomed Sylvain Wiltord back from injury, but Giovane
Elber's return from an ankle problem is now not expected until February.

Fenerbah?e SK went five points clear at the top of the Turkish Superleague
after defeating Trabzonspor 2-0 on Saturday. Alex scored an 18th-minute
penalty penalty and although Marcio Nobre was sent off eight minutes before
half-time, Tuncay Sanli confirmed victory late on. Midfield duo Sel?uk Sahin
and Serkan Balci were serving a domestic suspension, while striker Pierre van
Hooijdonk missed the match because of illness. However, Deniz Baris has a
suspected torn calf muscle and faces a medical. A victory is needed for
Fenerbah?e against AC Sparta Praha, who can only reach the UEFA Cup. Sparta
consolidated their Czech First Division lead with a 3-1 home win against FK
Jablonec 97, all the goals coming in the first 22 minutes including two for
Tomá? Jun.

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