Rangers ready for Barcelona clash
Captain Barry Ferguson likes the Rangers’ underdog role.
Glasgow, Scotland - The top spot in Group E will be on the line on Tuesday when Barcelona travel to the Ibrox Stadium for a meeting with Rangers in the third Matchday in Champions League play.
While Barcelona’s perfect 2-0 start should not come as any surprise, the fact that the Glasgow club has also started with a perfect record has raised a few eyebrows around Europe.
A 2-1 win against Stuttgart in the final minutes was followed by a thorough 3-0 victory against Lyon to put Rangers on level terms with the Spanish giants.
Barca has had an easy time in earning two straight wins to start its Champions League campaign, and is expected to come away from Scotland with a third win to take control of the group.
While Rangers will be viewed as underdogs on their own turf, captain Barry Ferguson thinks that it will work in the club’s favor.
“We’ve had a great start with two wins out of two so we are going into the game with no pressure at all,” Ferguson told the club’s website. “Barcelona have got to come here and they will be the ones under pressure. We can go out and enjoy the occasion and hopefully the fans can too.”
Walter Smith’s side is no doubt relishing the underdog role, but the team will be without Brahim Hemdani and Jean-Claude Darcheville because of injuries.
The Scottish side is not the only team that is battling injury trouble as Barca will not have the services of Deco, Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o, Edmilson, Rafael Marquez and Gianluca Zambrotta.
One player who Barcelona will have back in the fold is Ronaldinho, who sat out the team’s 3-1 loss to Villarreal on Saturday after playing with Brazil in World Cup qualifying.
Even with all of Barcelona’s injuries, there is still an abundance of talent for Rangers to deal with, and Ferguson is well aware of that.
“It’s certainly one of the best teams I’ll ever have played against,” Ferguson said. “They’ve got that many great players so it will be a massive test, not just for myself, but for the whole team.”
The other contest in Group E on Tuesday will be a battle for survival between Lyon and Stuttgart, who have both lost their first two games and are desperate for a win.
In Group F, Manchester United will travel to Ukraine for a meeting with winless Dynamo Kiev. United is looking to continue its perfect start to the Champions League campaign, while Dynamo is just trying to stay alive and earn its first points. A battle for the second spot takes place in Rome in the group’s other contest as Roma hosts Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon with both teams level on three points.
After surprising Inter Milan 1-0 in its first contest, Turkish club Fenerbahce was held to a 2-2 draw by CSKA Moscow, but still holds the lead in Group G by one point. Dutch club PSV Eindhoven is just one point back of Fenerbahce and will look to overtake them with a win. Inter Milan is just one point off the pace as well and will go for a second consecutive victory at CSKA Moscow after beating PSV last time out.
Tuesday’s action concludes with Group H, where Arsenal has taken control with two wins in its first two games. The Gunners will host Czech side Slavia Prague in an effort to make it three-for-three, while second-place club Sevilla entertains winless Steau Bucharest.
Wednesday’s slate of games includes Group A contests between Liverpool and Besiktas and surprising Marseille against FC Porto. Liverpool has taken just one point from its first two games, and is in danger of falling too far off the pace to recover. They face a vital test at last-place Besiktas with no other result in mind other than a win. Marseille has been the most surprising team in the group with a perfect 2-0 start in the Champions League despite poor form in Ligue 1. The French club owns a two-point lead on Porto and will host the Portuguese side on Wednesday.
Things are tight in Group B with all four teams having claimed at least one point. Chelsea currently holds the top spot by a point over both Schalke and Valencia, while underdogs Rosenborg sit at the bottom of the table with one point. Chelsea will try to hang on to the top spot when they host Schalke, while Valencia visits Rosenborg in an effort to stay in the mix.
Group C has a surprise leader in Olympiakos, which is level with Real Madrid on points with four through two games. The Greek side will get a major test on Wednesday when they visit Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to face Madrid. Lazio has come away with draws from its first two games and is looking to pick up three points at last-place Werder Bremen.
Shaktar Donetsk has stunned everyone in Group D with two wins to start the campaign, but they will get their toughest test to date when they travel to the San Siro to take on AC Milan. The Rossoneri are level on points with Celtic in second place after they were knocked off 2-1 by the Glasgow club last time out. Portuguese side Benfica occupies the bottom spot after two straight losses, but they will try to snap that losing skid with a home contest against Celtic.
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