British sides battle on for places in KO phase

Liverpool have already claimed a place in the last 16 of the Champions League with two matches still to be played as a quartet of British sides will continue their chase to join them in the knockout phase next week.

Liverpool will attempt to finish on top of their group to have the advantage of playing the second leg at Anfield in the next round.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Celtic are still in contention and after the coming matches the situation will be clearer. All teams will still have another match to go before putting the record straight.

The next matches will be the return of the opening fixtures of the group phase.

Next Wednesday, Liverpool tackle PSV Eindhoven at Anfield and a win for the Reds will leave them winners of their section. Both sides have ten points and in the first leg in Holland they shared the spoils (0-0).

Final fixtures: Galatasaray-Liverpool (2-3 first leg), PSV-Bordeaux (1-0).

If two or more sides finish level on points, the positions will be decided thus:

• Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played between the teams on equal points;

• Superior goal difference in direct clashes in the group;

• Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played between the teams in question;

• Superior goal difference from all group matches;

• Higher number of goals scored; and

• Coefficient points accumulated by the club as well as its national association over the previous five seasons.

Gerrard goal

The clincher against Bordeaux saw Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard claiming his first goal of the season. Last term he netted 23.

The England man will hope that the goal will give him the impetus needed to find the net more often, particularly in the Premier League.

His goal against the French gave him a total of 13 European Cup goals - just one behind Ian Rush's club record of 14 in the same tournament.

Only two players have played in all six Champions League matches this season - goalkeeper Jose Reina and defender Steve Finnan.

The second goal by Luis Garcia against Bordeaux was the club's 50th in the European Cup under Rafael Benitez. Garcia's two goals against the French side were his ninth and 10th for Liverpool in Europe.

Manchester United, who clash with Celtic after their 3-2 win at Old Trafford in the first leg, need only a draw to claim their place among the qualifiers for the next stage of the Champions League.

Alex Ferguson, who has just marked his 20th year at Old Trafford, has been behind much of the silverware in the club's board room, especially Premier League honours.

Ferguson has stated that he dearly wished to win another European Cup before retiring.

With the experience gathered in this competition, the Scot can indeed lead his lads to the top step of the podium. After opting to leave out six regulars in the shock defeat in Copenhagen, Ferguson will parade all the big guns at Celtic Park on Tuesday.

After next week's matches, Celtic could be overtaken by Benfica in the standings if Gordon Strachan's side are beaten by United.

Much will depend then on Celtic's last match in Copenhagen. The Bhoys are competing in their fourth Champions League campaign and still have a good chance of progressing to the KO stages for the first time.

Prior to their 0-3 defeat at the hands of Benfica, Celtic commemorated the 40th year since they won the European Cup with a 2-1 victory over Inter in Lisbon.

Indeed, that was a feather in the cap for Jock Stein's side who had to pierce the famous rearguard of Helenio Herrera's Italian side twice to win the 1967 competition.

Final fixtures: Man. United-Benfica (1-0), FC Copenhagen-Celtic (0-1).

As Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho remarked, his players are more focused on winning the 'Big One' this season. The Londoners, boosted by the point won at Barcelona, are still not sure of a place in the knock-out phase. They only need a draw from their encounter at Werder Bremen on Wednesday.

The Blues are undefeated in five Champions League matches and will be without their suspended captain Frank Lampard.

Final fixtures: Chelsea-Levski Sofia, Barcelona-Werder Bremen.

Arsenal saw the Russian jinx hitting them again. In their eight encounters against sides from Moscow, they only managed two wins.

Arsenal are now in second place along with Porto, both on seven points - one adrift of leaders CSKA Moscow. Next Tuesday, the Gunners will entertain Hamburg who are rock bottom without a point.

Arsenal will regain the leadership in their section if, as expected, they beat the Germans and CSKA Moscow and Porto finish in a draw in Russia.

Final fixture: Porto-Arsenal (0-2), Hamburg-CSKA Moscow (0-1).

Arsenal's home record against German clubs is impressive as data denotes:

1970-71 (Fairs Cup, quarter-final) Cologne 2-1.
1996-97 (UEFA Cup, first round) Bor. Moenchengladbach 2-3.
1999-2000 (Champions League, quarter-final) Werder Bremen 2-0.
2000-01 (Champions League, group match) Bayern Munich 2-2.
2001-02 (Champions League, group match) Schalke 04 3-2.
2001-02 (Champions League, group match) Bayer Leverkusen 4-1.
2002-03 (Champions League, group match) Borussia Dortmund 2-0.
2004-05 (Champions League, first round knock-out) Bayern Munich 1-0.

Leading scorers

The all-time Champions League leading marksmen:
54 - Raul (Real Madrid).
46 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid).
43 - Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea).
42 - Thierry Henry (Arsenal).