The four English teams left in the Champions League had a mixed bag of results in the first legs of the last 16 stage last week. The second legs are now scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Of the English quartet, only Liverpool managed to win, at home to Bayer Leverkusen. The other side on home soil, Manchester United, lost 1-0 at Old Trafford to Italy's Milan.

While Chelsea are down 2-1 after their trip to Barcelona, Arsenal were defeated 3-1 in Germany by Bayern Munich.

Liverpool were leading 3-0 in stoppage time and the fans had already started dreaming of their next opponents in the quarter-finals. But Leverkusen netted a vital goal with the last kick of the match. Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek's failure to hold on to Dimitar Berbatov's drive allowed Franca to score and give the Germans a lifeline for the second leg.

Liverpool will be strengthened by the return of skipper Steven Gerrard after he served a one-match ban. Gerrard, who covers acres of ground, makes everyone else play better.

Defender Mauricio Pellegrino and striker Fernando Morientes are still cup-tied. In the competition proper (bar the qualifying round) no Liverpool player has succeeded in scoring more than one goal.

At the BayArena, the Reds will be keen to gain revenge over Leverkusen, who had knocked them out of the quarter-finals of the same competition three years ago. The Germans went on to the final at Hampden Park but lost to Real Madrid.

In that 2002 tie, Liverpool had built a 1-0 advantage at Anfield but Leverkusen turned the tables upon them to triumph 4-2.

Klaus Augenthaler's team have already beaten Roma, Real Madrid and Dynamo Kiev by a 2-0 margin at home in this competition.

Liverpool conserved their record of not losing to a German club at Anfield. Yet, on the away front, they are still in search of their first win after ten attempts that show five draws and the same number of defeats:

1964-65 (European Cup QF)
vs Cologne 0-0

1967-68 (Fairs Cup 2nd round)
vs 1860 Munich 1-2

1970-71 (Fairs Cup QF)
vs Bayern Munich 1-1

1971-72 (CWC 2nd round)
vs Bayern Munich 1-3

1972-73 (UEFA Cup 1st round)
vs E. Frankfurt 0-0

1972-73 (UEFA Cup final)
vs B. Moenchengladbach 0-2

1977-78 (European Cup SF)
vs B. Moenchengladbach 1-2

1980-81 (European Cup SF)
vs Bayern Munich 1-1

2001-02 (Cham. League group)
vs B. Dortmund 0-0

2001-02 (Cham. League QF)
B. Leverkusen 2-4

On 12 occasions that Liverpool travelled with a two-goal lead from Anfield, only once were they knocked out. That was against Inter in the semi-finals of the European Cup, losing 0-3 at San Siro to bow out 3-4 on aggregate, in 1964-65.

Drogba dismissal

Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho led Chelsea at Barcelona's Nou Camp where he was assistant to both Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal.

The match was billed as the pick of the round and it was Chelsea who drew first blood but Barcelona then came back to win 2-1.

At the time they conceded the goals, the Blues were a man short after Didier Drogba was sent off for a second yellow card. He only contested a loose ball with Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who made a meal out of it.

The Spaniards went on to stretch their record to 15 home games without defeat against English opposition. Chelsea had previously lost twice on aggregate to Barcelona in Euro commitments.

For the second successive time, Mourinho erred with his substitutions when he changed Damien Duff for defender Glen Johnson. From then on it was one-way traffic into the Chelsea penalty area.

Mourinho admitted that against Newcastle in the FA Cup, he should not have made three substitutions at one go at half-time. Chelsea then had to play with ten men when Wayne Bridge was injured early in the second period.

Chelsea, undefeated in 37 knock-out contest matches in Europe at Stamford Bridge, have a significant record at home to Spanish sides.

1965-66 (Fairs Cup SF)
vs Barcelona 2-0

1994-95 (CWC SF)
vs Real Zaragoza 3-1

1997-98 (CWC QF)
vs Real Betis 3-1

1998-99 (CWC SF)
vs Real Mallorca 1-1

1999-00 (Cham. League QF)
Barcelona 3-1

Ferguson substitution

Alex Ferguson - in charge of more Champions League matches than any other coach (108) - tilted the game in his opponents' favour after one of his substitutions against Milan, withdrawing Cristiano Ronaldo for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had not played for three months.

Van Nistelrooy's pedigree in Europe, where only Real Madrid's Raul has scored more goals than the Dutchman, was too tempting for Ferguson.

Previous to the encounter against Milan, van Nistelrooy had netted a staggering total of 36 goals in 37 Champions League games.

The 1-0 win at Old Trafford, after a blunder by goalkeeper Roy Carroll, was Milan's first victory on English soil - at the 10th attempt.

On the two previous clashes between United and Milan, the Italians held the upperhand on aggregate score. United have won twice in their last three away matches against Italian sides.

1957-58 (European Cup SF)
vs Milan 0-4

1968-69 (European Cup SF)
vs Milan 0-2

1976-77 (Uefa Cup 2nd round)
vs Juventus 0-3

1983-84 (CWC SF)
vs Juventus 1-2

1996-97 (Cham. League group)
vs Juventus 0-1

1997-98 (Cham. League group)
vs Juventus 0-1

1998-99 (Cham. League QF)
vs Inter 1-1

1998-99 (Cham. League SF)
vs Juventus 3-2

1999-00 (Cham. League group)
vs Fiorentina 0-2

2002-03 (Cham. League group)
vs Juventus 3-0

Last week, Arsenal lost 3-1 to Bayern Munich at the Olympic Stadium. They now have to topple the Germans by two clear goals, at least, to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament as the erratic form of the Londoners at this stage of the competition persists even if the setback was their first loss on the continent this season.

Worst performance

The display in Munich, where Arsenal were without defenders Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell, may have convinced the club to search for British talent.

Arsenal were behind another defensive suicide against Bayern and afterwards Arsene Wenger admitted that this was the club's worst performance in seven seasons of Champions League commitments.

Yet, the late goal by Kolo Toure, who was the villain and hero of the side after his abysmal mistake in the first minutes of the match, has left the Gunners with a chance of progressing. A 2-0 win at Highbury will see the Londoners through, but that would require a clean sheet which lately has become a rarity for the Gunners.

Wenger, who was tipped to coach Bayern Munich the season before he arrived at Highbury, will be hoping to have some of his injured players back for the Highbury showdown on Wednesday.

Bayern will also welcome Michael Ballack after he was injured for the home tie.

On the other occasion these two clubs met, in 2000-01, both sides progressed to the quarter-finals following a 2-2 draw, at Highbury, and a 1-0 win for the Germans at the Olympic Stadium, in the second group phase of the competition.

In seven home matches against German sides, Arsenal only lost once. They scored two or more clear goals on three occasions.

1970-71 (Fairs Cup QF)
vs Cologne 2-1

1996-97 (UEFA Cup 1st round)
vs B. Moenchengladbach 2-3

1999-00 (UEFA Cup QF)
vs Werder Bremen 2-0

2000-01 (Cham. League group)
vs Bayern Munich 2-2

2001-02 (Cham. League group)
vs Schalke 04 3-2

2001-02 (Cham. League group)
vs Bayer Leverkusen 4-1

2002-03 (Cham. League group)
vs Borussia Dortmund 2-0