Group C
Lokomotiv Moscow v Milan
in last week’s 1-0 defeat in Milan.

Defender Vadim Yevseyev returns for Lokomotiv after missing the San Siro game due to suspension. Brazilian striker Julio Cesar, who missed that game with a thigh injury, should also be fit.

But the Russians will be without influential South African midfielder Jacob Lekgetho due to suspension.

Lokomotiv coach Yuri Semin will encourage his players to adopt a positive approach tonight.

“We play top teams and we match them but have lost because of one or two mistakes,” Semin said.

“If we are to win such a game, we should create more chances than our opponents”.

For the visitors, there are several injury worries. Andriy Shevchenko has a thigh injury so will not travel. Roque Junior and Andrea Pirlo have also stayed in Milan while Rivaldo missed training on Monday, although he is expected to play. Alessandro Nesta and Fernando Redondo, meanwhile, have been suffering from flu but are also expected to appear. Massimo Ambrosini, Thomas Helveg, Juan Antonio Chamot and Roque Junior are all trying to shrug off various ailments.

The goood news for Milan is that they have almost qualified for the knocout stages. Victory tonight will secure their passage into the last eight.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti is optimistic about his side’s chances.

“Everyone can see the quality growing but I am hoping that we will play even better than on Saturday,” he said.

“I am sure that we will see different football from what we saw in Milan. Surely, Lokomotiv will attack more and our defence will be under pressure, but we will get more chances on the other end”.

The night promises to be an historic one for veteran Milan skipper Paolo Maldini. Maldini will make a record 118th appearance in UEFA club competition tonight, eclipsing the the record of the former Internazionale full-back Giuseppe Bergomi.

Probable teams
: Sergei Ovchinnikov, Gennady Nizhegorodov, Sergei Ignashevich, Oleg Pashinin, Vadim Yevseyev, Dmitry Sennikov, Milan Obradovic, Vladimir Maminov, Dmitry Loskov, Julio Cesar, Ruslan Pimenov.
: Dida, Cristian Brocchi, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Kakha Kaladze, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo (or Fernando Redondo), Clarence Seedorf, Rivaldo, Serginho, Filippo Inzaghi

Probable teams:
Milan: Dida, Simic, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Costa, Serginho or Seedorf, Rivaldo, Inzaghi.
Lokomotiv: Ovchinnikov, Nizhegorodov, Lekgetho, Ignashevich, Pashinin, Sennikov, Obradovic, Maminov, Loskov, Cesar, Pimenov.

Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid

The return of Evanilson at right-back may help shackle Madrid’s attacking players, with Christoph Metzelder returning to his more familiar berthÿin the centre of defence. Amoroso seems unlikely to feature in the starting lineup.

Ahead of the match, Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer hasspoken optimistically of his side’s prospects of overcoming the holders.

‘We are capable of scoring anytime. We can scoretwice and if it’s necessary we will score three,’ said Sammer.

‘When we played in Milan we silenced the crowd. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have to provide the spark.”

Both sides know that defeat will put them in danger of going out of the competition – an unthinkable scenario for Madrid given their lavish expenditure in recent seasons.

Vicente del Bosque’sside will still be without defender Fernando Hierro, who has a knee injury, so Francisco Pavon will continue to deputise alongside Ivan Helguera.

But Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, rested and suspended respectively for the 3-1 win over Valladolid in the Spanish league at the weekend, will return. Zidane has foot and back problems but is expected to start tonight.

“It is a very important game but it doesn’t decide anything,” he said.

“I think Dortmund will put us under pressure and we will have to defend. However, it is not our style to play for a draw – we will go out to win.”

Probable teams:
Dortmund: Jens Lehmann, Evanilson, Christian Woerns, Christoph Metzelder, Dede, Torsten Frings, Stefan Reuter, Sebastian Kehl, Tomas Rosicky, Jan Koller, Ewerthon.
Real Madrid: Iker Casillas, Michel Salgado, Francisco Pavon, Ivan Helguera, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Flavio Conceicao, Claude Makelele, Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo.