Juve, Liverpool seek Europa League salvation

European heavyweights Juventus and Liverpool will both seek to rescue disappointing seasons when the first legs of their respective Europa League last-16 ties kick off today.

Both clubs have fallen well off the pace in their domestic championships and face a battle to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Juve have begun to move in the right direction under new coach Alberto Zaccheroni, however, and are now just two points outside the Serie A top four after a 2-1 victory at Fiorentina on Saturday.

Their Europa League opponents are Premier League club Fulham, who produced one of the upsets of the competition in the previous round by eliminating defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk, of Ukraine.

Juve's centre-back Giorgio Chiellini will miss the match with a left thigh injury but should be fit for the return leg in London next week.

Liverpool's stuttering campaign received a further blow when they went down 1-0 at relegation-threatened Wigan on Monday, denying them the opportunity to steal a march on their rivals for fourth place and a Champions League berth.

Today, Rafael Benitez's men visit Lille who have lost just one of their last 16 home games in European competition and who are the top scorers in the French top flight.

"Lille are a good team," said Benitez.

"People maybe don't know too much about them but we've spoken with people in Valencia, because they played one another, and we have reports from the scouts."

Benfica have rekindled memories of their 1960s heyday by storming to the top of the Portuguese top division this season and they welcome Marseille to the Estadio da Luz.

Marseille are three points off the top in Ligue 1 and midfielder Benoit Cheyrou says his Argentine team-mate Lucho Gonzalez, who joined from Porto last summer, has given them plenty of warning about Jorge Jesus's exciting side.

"He's told us loads of great things about this team," said Cheyrou.

"Since the start of the season he's been telling us that they're the best team in the Portuguese championship."

Werder Bremen, last season's losing finalists, travel to a Valencia side who scraped past Belgian outfit FC Bruges only thanks to an extra-time brace from midfielder Pablo Hernandez in the last round.

Greek league leaders Panathinaikos, who shocked Roma in the round of 32, host Standard Liege while Russian champions Rubin Kazan take on German counterparts Wolfsburg fresh from a Russian Super Cup win over CSKA Moscow on Sunday.

Last 16

A. Madrid vs S. Lisbon;
Hamburg vs Anderlecht;
Lille vs Liverpool;
Rubin Kazan vs Wolfsburg;
Benfica vs Marseille;
Juventus vs Fulham;
Panathinaikos vs S. Liege;
Valencia vs Werder Bremen.

Second legs: March 18.