Group G
Besiktas v Chelsea
Chelsea will look to avenge their 0-2 defeat at the hands of Besiktas earlier in the competition.
The game has been switched from Besiktas’ Inonu stadium after terrorist attacks in Istanbul and is now being played in Gelsenkirchen, Germany at the Arena Auf Schalke.
Besiktas will be without suspended midfielder Federico Giunti and Ahmet Dursun is ruled out after surgery. Besiktas will be boosted by the return Kaan Dobra, while Ronaldo Guiaro is expected to line up in defence.
Sergen Yalcin, scorer of both goals against the Blues in London, said: “If we win we will open up a proud new page in Besiktas history.”
Chelsea are through to the last 16 after drawing 0-0 with Sparta Prague, needing only a point to win the group.
Coach Claudio Ranieri is confident that his side can progress to the final of the competition.
He said: “For me it is not important who we play. If we fear anybody in the Champions League then we are not going to win it. I have every confidence.”
Chelsea travelled to Germany with Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard facing late fitness tests, but they will not be with striker Hern‡n Crespo, who remained in London following a calf injury. Holland’s Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink is expected to lead the attack with Adrian Mutu being rested.
Sparta Prague v Lazio
Lazio and Sparta currently have five points each, while the Turks have seven.
“Unfortunately the qualification issue is not in our hands,” said Mancini.
“However, I believe that if we win, we will qualify. Our only thought must be to play well and win.”
The Italian was handed a psychological boost when his side beat Juventus at the weekend. Lazio are awaiting a decision on whether Roberto Muzzi will be fit to play while Claudio Lopez is certain to miss the tie through injury. Sinisa Mihajlovic will also not feature owing to a suspension.
Striker Simone Inzaghi said that beating Sparta was his side’s main focus.
‘The important thing is that we win and qualify for the next round, hoping that Chelsea do not lose against Besiktas. We will play our own game and will only look at the result of the other match at the end,” he said.
Sparta coach Jiri Kotrba said that his side was equally committed to progressing through to the knock-out stages.
“We will play for everything but I don’t think it will be an open game,” he said.
“We want to go through and we have to win against Lazio first and then look for the Besiktas result,” he said.
“I will not have any information from that match – we have to concentrate on our game.”
