Holders CSKA look to Carvalho for boost
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Holders CSKA Moscow are counting on the return of Brazilian playmaker Daniel Carvalho to lift the side for Thursday's UEFA Cup tie at Dutch club Heerenveen after defeat in their opening group stage game.
CSKA lost 2-1 at home to Olympique Marseille in Group F two weeks ago when Carvalho was injured, but will be boosted by a win over Rostov at the weekend that put them one victory away from clinching the Russian title.
Carvalho's fellow Brazilian, striker Vagner Love, and Russia winger Yuri Zhirkov should also be fit to play after scoring against Rostov.
Heerenveen will seek to make things difficult for the champions, however, in the first meeting between the clubs in the competition. The Dutch side can take heart after holding Romanians Dinamo Bucharest to a goalless draw last time.
English side Middlesbrough could go clear at the top of Group D if they beat Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, whose veteran coach Yevgeny Kucherevsky resigned recently.
The Ukrainian team lost last time to joint leaders AZ Alkmaar who are not in action this week.
Steve McLaren's team are on a high after crushing Manchester United 4-1 in the Premier League on Sunday and chairman Steve Gibson believes the club are contenders for European success.
'We are determined to make a big push to go a long, long way in this competition,' he told the Boro website.
'We did well to reach the last 16 last season, but we believe we now have the squad that can take us further. Who knows how far?'
TIGANA TEST
Jean Tigana's first test as coach of Turkish club Besiktas will be a tough assignment at Sevilla, who are unbeaten in five Primera Liga matches -- only conceding two goals in that run. It is the Spanish side's first game in Group H.
Former France international Tigana, who has been out of the game since his dismissal from English club Fulham two years ago, took over at Besiktas on Monday after Riza Calimbay resigned following his side's disappointing start to the season.
'Our first job will be to get our injured players back. We have a tough Sevilla game ahead of us,' said Tigana.
Former European champions Steaua Bucharest fired a warning to their Group C rivals when they beat RC Lens 4-0 last time and will want to build on that display at Italian side Sampdoria.
Sampdoria, playing their first group game, will take comfort from the fact that Steaua were beaten at home in the Romanian league at the weekend and have never won against Italian opposition, losing all four games they have played in Italy.
Sampdoria, meanwhile, were set for an impressive win over Serie A giants Inter on Saturday before being pegged back to a 2-2 draw.
German clubs all won their opening fixtures and the two in action on Thursday, Hamburg and Stuttgart, will want more of the same in their second group ties.
The two Group A winners meet when Hamburg take on Norway's Viking Stavanger, while in Group G VfB Stuttgart host Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk, who were also victorious in their first outing.
