Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan and his club Anderlecht are eager to kick-off their group stage campaign of the Champions League with a victory when they host French side Lille on Wednesday. "Our chances of progressing to the second round are similar to our competitors in the group," Hassan told FilGoal.com. The Belgian champions are drawn in Group H, which also features former champions AC Milan and AEK Athens both clashing at the San Siro later on the same day. With the Italian powerhouse seeming out of reach, a three-horse race will be taking place for the second ticket to the knock-out stage and Hassan believes a winning start would be pivotal. "A victory over Lille will be a huge boost to our confidence. We studied their game and I think we have a big chance to win," he said. Anderlecht coach Franky Vercauteren is set to adopt a bold attacking 3-4-3 formation with Hassan, Mohammed Tchite and Mbark Boussoufa up front. Anthony Vanden Borre will be marshalling the defense while recovering Jelle Van Damme may get a chance to take part. Boussoufa also kept a confident mood but warned of Lille, who played in Europe three times in the past five years and downed Manchester United last season. "I hope we can start the Champions League with a win," the Moroccan striker said. "But Lille has a hard-working group and they are very dangerous up front." Yet, Lille believe that their time to shine has come after gaining Champions League experience over the last few years. "We were playing to learn last year, but now we are playing to qualify," said coach Claude Puel after the draw. The French outfit's main source of danger is in-form forward Peter Odemwingie, who found the net five times in as many games in Ligue 1 this season. LYON REUNION Another French side, Lyon, will also have a tough task when they host a new-look Real Madrid and former player Mahamadou Diarra in Group E.
Arsenal will be without Henry Diarra was a pivotal player in Lyon's past four campaigns during which they won as many French League titles and he will be using his experience to help Real pull off an away win. "I'm familiar with French football and I know what we have to do to avoid losing. We are capable of springing a surprise," Diarra told Real's website on Tuesday. The Malian midfielder was one of several players signed by Real's new coach Fabio Capello in a bid to put the team back on the winning track after three-year of title-drought, which hasn't happened to the club since 1953. The list also includes Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy who scored three times in two league matches, Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro who are all expected to start in Lyon. Capello also counts on Antonio Cassano, who he coached in Roma and gave unleashed him with Real this season. Real hope to change their fate in the opening games as they lost 3-0 in the last two season's curtain raisers against Bayer Leverkusen and, ironically, Lyon respectively. Lyon kept their attacking forces that lift them to the last eight in 2005-2006, with captain Juninho, John Carew and French internationals Sylvain Wiltord and Sidney Govou all available for the game. Dynamo Kyiv and Steaua will clash in the second tie of the group. THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN In Group F, Manchester United will host Celtic FC in an all-British clash, expected to witness traditional tension that accompanies such games. "What you have got to do with games like this is to get rid of the Scotland-England rivalry because that only makes it harder," Manchester United's Scottish manager Alex Ferguson was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "It's easy to get caught up in the emotion if you are not careful because games like this don't come around very often." United are hot favorites to
