Straight back in at deep end

Olympique Marseille mark their return tonight to the Champions League they won in 1993 with a visit to the competition's most…

Olympique Marseille mark their return tonight to the Champions League they won in 1993 with a visit to the competition's most successful club, nine-times European Cup winners Real Madrid.

Real coach Carlos Queiroz will have no doubts about his front five for the Group F match after Luis Figo, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Raul and Ronaldo combined to devastating effect in a 7-2 victory over Valladolid at the weekend.

Queiroz does have problems elsewhere in his team, though, with centre back Ivan Helguera certain to miss out because of a right-knee injury, while defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso is struggling to overcome an ankle problem.

That will almost certainly mean Beckham continuing in a central midfield role, perhaps alongside Guti. Helguera's injury should see Raul Bravo continuing as a makeshift centre back alongside Francisco Pavon.

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Zidane, though, is relishing playing against his hometown club and the one he supported as a boy.

"I am looking forward to the game and although I have a soft spot for Marseille, I will still take every opportunity I can to score against them as a real professional must," he said.

"Once you're on the pitch, you forget about your feelings. I will play for Real and I will be a Marseille fan again after the game, the same as I've always been.

"We know it's not going to be the same kind of game as on Saturday night (against Valladolid), as we saw that Marseille are a great team, in great shape.

"I've seen them play a couple of times and they were very good. We won't have any superiority complex."

Marseille, who last played in the Champions League in the 1999/2000 season, will almost certainly be without Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, who injured his ankle in his team's 5-0 demolition of lowly Le Mans on Saturday. Brazil's Fernandao is also doubtful.

Coach Alain Perrin left some of his first-choice players on the bench against Le Mans, like Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten, who will mark Ronaldo like he did in the World Cup second-round match in Japan last year.

"I fear everything from him, but I think I have ideas as to how to stop him. We'll see if I was right after the game," Van Buyten said.

Perrin said: "Real is football's Everest, but we won't have any pressure as we're the underdogs."

PROBABLE TEAMS

REAL MADRID: Casillas; Salgado, Pavon, Bravo, Carlos; Figo, Beckham, Guti, Zidane; Raul, Ronaldo.

OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE: Runje; Beye, van Buyten, Meite, Ecker; Hemdani, Celestini, Merem, Vachousek; Marlet, Sychev.

Referee: W Stark (Germany).