Old friends and new faces
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Article summary
Friends are reunited at Ibrox and Stamford Bridge while FK Partizan face their toughest challenge in Madrid.
Article body
'Eyes for one team'
As Rangers FC manager Alex McLeish said ahead of facing a Manchester United FC side led by his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, himself an Ibrox old boy: "When the referee blows his first whistle I will only have eyes for one team." The same will apply to Chelsea FC's Hernán Crespo and Juan Sebastián Verón when they line up against S.S. Lazio, one of their former clubs.
Key fixtures
Both are key fixtures. Rangers lead Group E by a point from VfB Stuttgart and United. The bottom side, Panathinaikos FC, visit Stuttgart in the section's other match.
Repeat performance
Lazio, meanwhile, lead Group G by a point from Besiktas JK and Chelsea. The Turkish champions will look to repeat their win at Stamford Bridge three weeks ago away to an AC Sparta Praha side desperate to add to their single point.
Old guard
While Lazio and Chelsea are two of European football's nouveaux riches, FK Partizan are one of the continent's old guard. They played in the inaugural European Champion Clubs' Cup but are new to the rigours of the Champions League and tonight the Serbo-Montenegrin champions visit Group F leaders Real Madrid CF for their toughest test yet.
'Best in the world'
As coach Lothar Matthäus acknowledged: "Real Madrid have the best players in the world and they can win with one player or collectively."
'Decisive' for Marseille
The second and third teams in the section, Olympique de Marseille and FC Porto, meet at the Stade Vélodrome. With Madrid leading the group, Marseille coach Alain Perrin considers Porto his main rivals for second place. "These next two games against Porto will be decisive," he said.
Celta yet to win
In Group H, leaders AC Milan are at home to Club Brugge KV while RC Celta de Vigo continue their pursuit of a first Champions League win away at second-placed AFC Ajax.
Extensive coverage
uefa.com will provide extensive coverage of tonight's eight Matchday 3 fixtures. Along with live audio and text commentaries, there will be reaction from every match and video highlights.
