Compelling ties for English
Premier League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool face compelling ties as they reach the midway point of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday.
Chelsea, with four points from their first two games, host AS Roma on the back of their highest ever win under Luiz Felipe Scolari, a 5-0 thrashing at Middlesbrough.
Roma travel to north London anxious for a quick pick-me-up after Saturday's sobering 4-0 loss to Inter Milan at their Olympic Stadium.
With next weekend's Liverpool clash looming, Scolari will be calling on all his big game expertise to get through what the Brazilian describes as his most taxing week since taking over at Stamford Bridge.
"I have been thinking about Roma and Liverpool and yes, this is the toughest week so far," admitted Scolari.
"All weeks are tough but I make them easy because if I thought about things any differently, I would be dead in one week.
"I am happy because against Roma I will maybe have Ricardo Carvalho, Petr Cech, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole," said Scolari.
"They are coming back at the right time. They are not in the best condition but when we play Liverpool we will be almost at full strength and that is important.
"Roma have changed some players and started the season in not good condition, but now they are better.
"They played well in the last two or three games and we respect them because they have history and quality. They have an intelligent coach and they are improving."
Chelsea head the standings on goal difference from Romanian highflyers Cluj who are away to pointless Bordeaux.
Liverpool take on Atletico without the Spanish side's former striker Fernando Torres, the Euro 2008 winner who picked up a hamstring injury in Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium last week.
This top-of-the-table clash in Group D only goes ahead in the Spanish capital after UEFA lifted its two-match stadium ban on Atletico for the racist abuse directed at Marseille by their fans on October 1.
Liverpool, on a 15-match unbeaten run, know a win at the Vicente Calderon will virtually seal their place in the knockout stages.
Manager Rafael Benitez said: "We can field a team good enough to beat Atletico.
"We have a few minor injury problems to (Yossi) Benayoun, (Steven) Gerrard and (Robbie) Keane, but I do not expect them to be serious, they should all play on Wednesday."
Roma's weekend nemesis Inter Milan face Anorthisis both clubs locked on points and goal difference at the top of Group B.
Cypriot minnows Anorthisis have proved the surprise package in the group, taking four points from their first two games but are up against it here with Jose Mourinho's Inter buoyant after their four-star display at the weekend.
Anorthosis cannot do any worse than their previous clashes against Italian opposition, both times in the UEFA Cup.
In 1992/93 they were trounced 10-1 on aggregate by Juventus in the first round and three years ago they went down 6-1 overall to Palermo.
Chairman Andreas Panteli though is not getting carried away by his team's dream start, in which they drew 0-0 in Bremen and then beat Panathinaikos 3-1 at home.
Werder Bremen, with two points, take on Greek strugglers Panathinaikos.
Barcelona, unbeaten in Group C, are in Switzerland to take on FC Basel without Malian defender Seydou Keita but Euro 2008 best player Xavi Hernandez is back after sitting out Sunday's 1-0 League win over Athletic Bilbao.
In the Ukraine, Shaktar Donetsk host Sporting Lisbon.
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