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UEFA Champions League Preview II - Group E to H

Written by Adeleke Afolayan

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

The second instalment of matchday 1 in Europe's elite club competition sees defending champions Machester United open its title defence at home to 2006 semi-finalist Villarreal with Cristiano Ronaldo touted to make his long awaited return from injury.

Villarreal will also be hoping former Red Devil Giuseppe Rossi recovers in time from injury to play at Old Trafford though with Nihat Kahveci, Robert Pires, Marcos Senna and Santi Carzola, the Yellow Submarines could be a handful for Sir Alex Ferguson's side still smarting from a 2-1 loss at Liverpool in the Premier League.

While Ronaldo may return for the Red Devils and Dimitar Berbatov would make his European debut for the club, Michael Carrick is ruled out of the tie altogether after picking an injury in the loss at Anfield.

England's other representatives on the night, Arsenal make a daunting trip to the Ukraine to face Dynamo Kyiv in Group G, seeking to avoid defeat in a country the Gunners have lost in all three previous visits.

Arsenal however enter the match on the back of three wins and 11 goals scored with none conceded and with news of Mikael Silvestre likely to make a debut appearance since his move from Manchester United.

Group H sees the return of Juventus to the Champions League with a home tie against the UEFA Cup and European Super Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg while nine time winners Real Madrid and debutantes BATE Barisov clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real will be hoping to at least make it past the second round this season following exits from the competition at that stage in the past three consecutive seasons.

Other matches tonight sees Bayern Munich travel to Steaua Bucharest of Romania and seven time French league champions Olympique Lyon host Fiorentina in Group F. Celtic host Aalborg in Group E and Fenerbahçe face FC Porto at the Dragao in Group G.

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