Champions League Preview: Klinsmann confident over Toni | inside World Soccer

Champions League Preview: Klinsmann confident over Toni

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Bayern Munich coach Jürgen Klinsmann remains hopeful that striker Luca Toni will recover from a rib injury to face former club Fiorentina in the Champions League.

Toni was substituted five minutes before half-time in Saturday's Bundesliga win at Karlsruhe due to sore ribs, and was forced to sit out Sunday's training session.

The 31-year-old is desperate to have recovered in time for Tuesday's encounter with the Viola and will receive intensive treatment right up to kick-off.

Klinsmann told www.fcbayern.de: "We are taking it day by day and we hope of course that he will be able to face his former club. He's totally fired up for the match.''

Bayern sit top of Group F on four points, two points clear of the second-placed Fiorentina.

Juventus and Real Madrid meet in a repeat of the 1998 final, but the current states of the two European giants couldn't be farther apart.

The Bianconeri is struggling with injuries and hasn't won in a month, while Madrid has recaptured top form, going six matches unbeaten in La Liga and winning its two Champions League matches against Zenit St. Petersburg and BATE Borisov.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is sidelined for up to two months and midfielder Christian Poulsen sustained a muscular problem at the weekend. Winger Mauro Camoranesi and striker David Trezeguet are also on the injury list.

Madrid, meanwhile, travel to Turin inspired by their 2-1 victory over neighbor Atlético Madrid last Saturday.

"Winning the derby makes us much stronger against Juventus. It is a boost for morale which will be really good for us because it's going to be a tough trip," said Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored after only 34 seconds against Atlético before sent off in the 39th minute.

Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who has overcome a muscular problem, and Christoph Metzelder will included for the trip to Italy, but injured midfielders Guti and Mahamadou Diarra remain sidelined.

Madrid lie top of Group H with six points while Juve is second with four.

Defending champions Manchester United will take on Celtic at Old Trafford with Wayne Rooney is on a run of goalscoring form, scoring eight goals in six matches for club and country.

Both sides also met at the same stage two years ago when United won 3-2 at Old Trafford but lost 1-0 at Celtic Park, with Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura scored with free kicks in both ties.

United are without injured Patrice Evra who picked up a hamstring injury in the 4-0 Premier League win against West Bromwich Albion.

The France defender took part in limited training at United's Carrington training ground on Monday, but Sir Alex Ferguson has decided not to take a chance on his fitness.

Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves are also sidelined for the Red Devils.

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan, who played under Ferguson at Aberdeen and United, also has a little injury crisis ahead of the match, with target men Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Georgios Samaras and Chris Killen are all out.

United lead Group E along with Villarreal on four points while Celtic is third with only one point from two matches.

Arsenal goes to the intimidating Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul with defensive injury crisis on their hand.

Kolo Touré, Bacary Sagna and skipper William Gallas are all out of the Champions League match against Fenerbahçe.

Touré damaged his shoulder ligaments during Saturday's Premier League win against Everton and will not be available for the trip to Turkey.

Gallas and Sagna are still out injured and will also not feature in the Group G fixture in Istanbul.

However, manager Arsène Wenger confirmed that Nicklas Bendtner and Johan Djourou are both back.

Djourou is expected to partner Mikaël Silvestre in the centre of defence, with either Alex Song or Emmanuel Eboué will play right-back in Sagna's absence.

Luis Aragonés' Fenerbahçe aren't in top form, lying mid-table after a poor start to the season, but they won 3-2 at bottom club Kocaelispor at the weekend.

At the pre-match press conference, Aragonés said he would continue with Dani Güiza up front and supported by Semih Şentürk.

Arsenal are on top of Group G with four points and the Turkish side is last with one.

Full fixtures on Tuesday:

Group E

Man United
Manchester United logo
v
Celtic logo
Celtic
Villarreal
Villarreal logo
v
Aalborg logo
Aalborg BK



Group F

Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich logo
v
Fiorentina logo
Fiorentina
Steaua Bucharest
Steaua Bucharest logo
v
Lyon logo
Lyon



Group G

FC Porto
FC Porto logo
v
Dynamo Kyiv logo
Dynamo Kyiv
Fenerbahçe
Fenerbahçe logo
v
Arsenal logo
Arsenal



Group H

Zenit St. Petersburg
Zenit St. Petersburg logo
v
BATE Borisov logo
BATE Borisov
Juventus
Juventus logo
v
Real Madrid logo
Real Madrid


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