The second and final instalment of the Battle of Britain saw English champions Manchester United naming a formidable-looking starting line-up to take on Rangers.
Alex Ferguson made two changes from the side that won 1-0 at Ibrox last month thanks to an early goal from Phil Neville. One had been enforced with Paul Scholes having to undergo an operation on his groin so in came the in-form Diego Forlan, who had scored in each of the last three matches.
The other saw teenager Cristiano Ronaldo given a start with John O'Shea dropping down to the bench.
Rangers manager Alex McLeish, who played under Ferguson at Aberdeen, was not so fortunate with Fernando Ricksen ruled out by an ankle injury sustained against Partick on Saturday.
He joined Ronald de Boer, Steven Thompson and Christian Nerlinger on the sidelines, opening the door for Scotland Under-21 midfielder Stephen Hughes to start the biggest match of his career, ahead of Emerson.
United kick off (7.45 p.m.) second in Group E level on six points with leaders Stuttgart, with Rangers third two points behind.
Meanwhile, Hernan Crespo was passed fit to lead Chelsea's attack in their tie against his former club Lazio. Crespo, who shook off a groin injury, lined up alongside Adrian Mutu, who himself moved from Serie A last summer as part of Roman Abramovich's spending spree.
Juan Sebastian Veron, who played with Crespo for Lazio, was meanwhile included in a midfield quartet also featuring Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Damien Duff. Marcel Desailly was again missing from the defence through injury, meaning that John Terry partnered William Gallas, with Wayne Bridge and Glen Johnson on the flanks.
Lazio, who lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in their last group game, were without a handful of players from that fixture, including Jaap Stam and Angelo Peruzzi. However, Roberto Mancini's side were still hoping to make amends for that defeat in the knowledge that another victory for Chelsea would effectively seal their place in the knock-out stages.
Man Utd: Howard, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Fortune, Ronaldo, Phil Neville, Keane, Giggs, Forlan, van Nistelrooy. Subs: Carroll, Butt, Bellion, Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba, O'Shea, Fletcher.
Rangers: Klos, Khizanishvili, Moore, Berg, Ball, Arteta, Hughes, Arveladze, Vanoli, Mols, Lovenkrands. Subs: McGregor, Emerson, Ostenstad, Capucho, Ross, Burke, Dowie.
Lazio: Sereni, Zauri, Couto, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Stankovic, Liverani, Albertini, Fiore, Corradi, Inzaghi. Subs: Casazza, Dabo, Lopez, Giannichedda, Muzzi, Negro, Sergio Conceicao.
Chelsea: Cudicini, Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Veron, Makelele, Lampard, Duff, Crespo, Mutu. Subs: Ambrosio, Huth, Geremi, Gronkjaer, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen.