Italian giants Inter Milan will host German champions Bayern Munich in their first ever UEFA Champions League match at the San Siro on Wednesday. The two sides met only twice before over two legs in the 1988 UEFA Cup and will be looking to make their first Champions League encounter a memorable one. Bayern are leading their Group B after a 4-0 crushing of Spartak Moscow in the opening game while Inter lost 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon. Bayern coach Felix Magath believes Inter's defeat against Sporting could only serve his team. "I think the Sporting Lisbon win was a very good result for us as well," Magath said. "It means Inter are going to be under a lot of pressure when we play there in the next game, and it will mean they have to attack." However, Bayern have given mediocre performances compared to their Italian opponents and despite a 2-1 over Alemannia Aachen on Saturday, club president Franz Beckenbauer is pessimistic. "If we play like we did in the 2-1 win over Aachen then we have no chance against Inter at all," Beckenbauer told German magazine Bild. "We played like an orchestra without a maestro," he said. "There was no harmony." While Bayern have an uphill task in Milan, Sporting Lisbon will try to make the best of the golden opportunity of facing minnows Spartak Moscow. A win for the Portuguese giants could put them in top spot in Group B if Bayern fail to win. BREMEN OUT FOR REVENGE German outfit Werder Bremen have more than one reason to go for the win when they host champions Barcelona in Group A. Bremen lost home and away to Barcelona in the group stage last season and such a result this season could very well send them packing from the competition. Another incentive for Bremen would be to end their five-game winless streak in all competitions. Werder lost 4 games and drew in their last match against Hamburg. Bremen welcome back top-scorer Miroslav Klose who recovered from a foot injury.
Klose is back for Bremen Elsewhere, Chelsea have the easy task of playing Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. As if Levski's chances are not bad enough, the Bulgarian debutants will be without injured strikers Emil Angelov and Valeri Domovchiiski. On the other hand, Chelsea have Joe Cole sidelined while captain John Terry is set for a return after recovering from a back problem. DEADLOCK IN GROUP C Liverpool have the chance to register their first win in five Champions League matches, excluding the preliminaries. The 2005 champions have cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday and seem ready to take on Galatasaray. Coach Rafael Benitez is expected to resume his policy of shuffling the squad and Luis Garcia is tipped to be in the starting line-up. "Luis is a very clever player and can do so many different things," said Benitez. "He is very important for us at Anfield, when we tend to play at a higher tempo. He has a very important role to play here," added the Spaniard. Bordeaux will also host the injury depleted PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday. PSV coach Ronald Koeman will have to cope without injured quartet: Philip Cocu, Jefferson Farfan, Patrick Kluivert and Jason Culina. Meanwhile things are looking well for Bordeaux who signed a contract extension with Brazilian coach Ricardo Gomes and have playmaker Johan Micoud back from injury. ROMA'S GLADIATORS OUT TO CONQUER VALENCIA In Group D, AS Roma travel to face Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium as both sides have the group summit in sight. Roma coach Luciano Spalletti is wary of his Spanish opponents and admitted he is still devising a way to beat them. "Both teams are doing well in the League, and we mustn't forget that Valencia held Barcelona to a draw just a few days ago," said Spalletti.
