Inter, which drew its opening Group A match 2-2 with FC
Twente and next plays Werder Bremen, relinquished its sole lead in the Italian
league at the weekend when it lost 1-0 to AS Roma for its first Serie A defeat.
Madrid, meanwhile, was held to a goalless draw at Levante on
Saturday and will expect more when it travels to Auxerre for its second Group G
match this season as coach Jose Mourinho continues his bid for Champions League
success with a third team.
Inter coach Rafa Benitez's mood will not be helped by the
potential loss of striker Diego Milito, who is doubtful for the Bremen match
after injuring his thigh against Roma.
"We need to be strong in the final third," said
the former Liverpool manager. "We had 15 shots on goal (against Roma) and
couldn't take any of them and that is a problem for us.
"We need to find the right balance. We have to analyze
why we didn't score." Inter striker Samuel Eto'o, who is joint top of the
Serie A goalscorer standings with five goals, scored the team's equalizer at
Twente as the reigning champions earned a point from what proved to be a tough
opener against the tournament newcomers.
Bremen also opened up with a 2-2 draw against English side
Tottenham, which is at home to Twente on Wednesday.
Madrid remains unbeaten in the Spanish league and kicked off
its European campaign by beating Ajax 2-0.
But Mourinho, who guided Inter to Champions League glory
last season, is worried about his side's goalscoring issues which he believes
has cost it four points in two domestic matches.
"I am obviously concerned because we need to
score," said Mourinho. "We are a solid team in defense. We have only
allowed one goal in six official games — five in La Liga and one in the
Champions League — and our tactics aren't the problem, but we aren't
scoring." Kaka is still out with a knee injury but Madrid team doctor
Carlos Diez said the Brazil attacking midfielder, who hasn't played since the
World Cup, was making good progress.
"He is almost free of symptoms at the moment,"
said Diez.
In the group's other match, AC Milan and Ajax — who have won
11 European Cups between them — meet at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Milan ended a three-match winless run in Serie A by edging
Genoa 1-0 on Saturday to give the players a welcome morale boost.
"We will go to Amsterdam with renewed
determination," Milan left back Luca Antonini said. "It was
fundamental that we got the three points (against Genoa), above all from a
psychological point of view with the match against Ajax coming up."
Barcelona, which began Group D with a 5-1 thrashing of Panathinaikos, travels
Wednesday to Rubin Kazan, who beat the Spanish champion 2-1 at the Nou Camp in
last year's tournament Barca come into the match on the back of a 3-1 win at
Athletic Bilbao — its third successive victory in La Liga.
"Against Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid, we were in
good form and we did not do so well against Sporting Gijon (which Barcelona
scraped past 1-0 at home). The team is fine and we are competing well."
Lionel Messi was expected to be missing for Barcelona but the Argentina forward
has been included in the squad that travels to Russia.
Messi, who hurt his ankle in a league match against Atletico
Madrid eight days ago, hasn't yet been given the all-clear by the club's
medical staff to return to action.
Brazil defender Adriano definitely misses out for Barcelona
with a muscle strain.
Panathinaikos hosts FC Copenhagen in the other match.
