Tuesday hopefuls fine-tune plans

The UEFA Champions League group stage kicks off this week, with the 16 sides in action on Tuesday night experiencing contrasting fortunes ahead of their first games in Europe's premier club competition. Several have worries surrounding key players, while a number of other teams will go into their midweek matches in buoyant mood. uefa.com rounds up the results and team news.

Panathinaikos FC v Rosenborg BK
Panathinaikos will be without the services of Lucian Sanmartean for at least the first two games of their Champions League campaign after the Romanian midfield player underwent knee surgery on Friday. Sanmartean is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks. Norwegian champions Rosenborg will go into the match on the back on an unexpected 4-1 defeat at home by Vålerenga IF, with Roar Strand missing the match due to a thigh injury while Øyvind Storflor was substituted at half-time with the same problem. Centre-half Vidar Riseth was withdrawn at half-time with a cold, but is expected to play against Panathinaikos.

Arsenal FC v PSV Eindhoven
English champions Arsenal recorded their fifth successive victory of the new Premership season, winning 3-0 at Fulham FC on Sunday afternoon, and were further boosted by the return from injury of inspirational captain Patrick Vieira for his first appearance for the club this season. PSV, meanwhile, recorded a 1-0 victory against RKC Waalwijk and welcomed back Phillip Cocu after pneumonia, although Kasper Bøgelund is out with a thigh injury and Remco van der Schaaf is sidelined with an ankle problem.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk v AC Milan
Goals from Brazilian forward Brandão and Croatian midfield player Darijo Srna helped Shakhtar to a narrow 2-1 win at FC CSKA Kyiv in the Ukrainian Cup. Italian champions Milan, meanwhile, were held to a 2-2 draw at home by AS Livorno Calcio on the first day of the new Serie A season, despite two Clarence Seedorf goals, with coach Carlo Ancelotti opting to rest Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso ahead of Tuesday's match.

Celtic FC v FC Barcelona
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has doubts surrounding the fitness of forward Chris Sutton and wing-back Didier Agathe, who both missed Saturday's 3-0 home win against Dundee FC with hamstring injuries. Slovakian defender Stanislav Varga has a calf strain, but O'Neill believes he will be fit for Tuesday. Goals from Ludovic Giuly and former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson - who is in line for a quick return to Parkhead having left Glasgow in the summer - earned Barcelona three Primera División points against Sevilla FC, but talismanic playmaker Ronaldinho missed that game.

Valencia CF v RSC Anderlecht
Spanish champions Valencia were forced to come from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw at Athletic Club Bilbao in Saturday's Primera División match, with substitute Miguel Angulo the catalyst for the fightback. The midfield player created Valencia's first goal for Marco Di Vaio and scored the second himself. Anderlecht striker Aruna Dinane marked his long-awaited return from his native Ivory Coast with a goal in a 3-1 win at KV Oostende, and midfield player Martin Kolar has returned to training after five months out with a knee ligament injury.

FC Internazionale Milano v SV Werder Bremen
Inter defender Carlos Gamarra missed the 2-2 draw at AC Chievo Verona on Saturday, leaving Marco Materazzi and Sinisa Mihajlovic as the central defensive partnership. Dejan Stankovic and Adriano scored Inter's goals. Bremen, meanwhile, will travel to Italy without Ümit Davala, Gustavo, Daniel Jensen and Krisztian Lisztes, all of whom are forced to miss the game through injury.

Paris Saint-Germain FC v Chelsea FC
PSG coach Vahid Halilhodzic left striker Pauleta on the bench for Saturday's match against FC Istres but was forced to throw the Portuguese striker on at half-time with his team a goal down. Pauleta duly scored from the penalty spot to earn his side a point, although Stéphane Pichot and Danijel Ljuboja both missed the trip through injury. Chelsea, meanwhile, dropped their first points of the new Premiership season as they were held to a goalless draw at Aston Villa FC, Celestine Babayaro replacing Wayne Bridge at left-back.

FC Porto v PFC CSKA Moskva
The Portuguese champions began their title defence with a 1-1 draw at SC Braga, taking the lead through Maniche after four minutes only to be pegged back in the second half. Left-back Nuno Valente and forward Derlei missed the game and will also be absent on Tuesday, while Brazilian international striker Luís Fabiano is lacking in match sharpness. CSKA Moskva were 2-1 winners against FC Spartak Moskva in the Russian Premier League on Friday, Jirí Jarošik and Ivica Olic getting the goals.