DPA/Berlin
Chelsea aim to pick up the pieces in the Europa League while Liverpool have voiced racism concerns ahead of their game at Zenit St Petersburg today.
Chelsea became the first title holder to go out in the group stage of the next Champions League and face a last-32 date at Sparta Prague.
Liverpool go to Russia after Zenit fans in December called on the club to exclude non-white and gay players, and managing director Ian Ayre told the club website the club has voiced its concerns in a letter to UEFA and Zenit.
“It has been a major concern for us. We await some responses in that regard,” he said.
“We are certainly hopeful the right people will take the right action to ensure that its a game where we dont have that type of incident,” Ayre said, adding that “the referee will be at the forefront” in the case of incidents on the field.
“We plan to speak with the players about it. The most important thing is that our players remain professional.”
Manager Brendan Rodgers will field his strongest team in cold St Petersburg - minus new hirings Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, who are ineligible.
Chelsea captain John Terry said that his side are taking the Europa League very serious even though it is the second tier event. “We’re now in the Europa League and there is one message - we have to go and win it. It’s as simple as that,” Terry said.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech plays in his home country and against the club he played for in 2001-02, and he knows that the hosts will be on fire.
“For them, it will be the biggest game of their careers, so that’s a danger because they will want to show they can do well against us,” Cech said, adding Sparta has “a good blend of young, hungry players and experienced ones.”
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris also plays against his former club, Olympique Lyon. The fourth English team, Newcastle, host Metalist Kharkiv.
Liverpool were the last English club to win the competition then still called the UEFA Cup, back in 2001. Zenit also lifted the trophy, in 2008.
The defending champions are Atletico Madrid, who also have a Russian opponent in Rubin Kazan, with goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo concerned about Rubin’s towering Venezuelan forward Jose Rondon.
“We have done well in the Europa League recently, but the tie against Rubin will be difficult, particularly the second leg in Russia,” Asenjo said.
Brazilian striker Diego Costa is suspended, but that will not worry coach Diego Simeone oevrmuch because star forward Radamel Falcao is now fit again.
Former winners Inter Milan also have one of the 11 eastern European teams in the event as opponent, Champions league drop-outs Cluj of Romania.
“(Cluj) have often been in European tournaments, therefore they are hard to tackle,” Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia said. Like Chelsea, Napoli have a Czech opponent in Victoria Plzen when their Uruguayan star striker Edinson Cavani celebrates his 26th birthday and aims to improve on his competition tally of seven from the group stage.
Lazio are without German forward Miroslav Klose and captain Stefano Mauri for their trip to Borussia Moenchengladbach, one of four German teams still going strong.
The other Bundesliga sides are Hanover (at ambitious Makhachkala of Russia), VfB Stuttgart (v Belgium’s Genk) and Bayer Leverkusen, who host Benfica Lisbon.