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CSKA Moscow and Marseille to face off in UEFA Cup match

The last time Marseille and CSKA Moscow played, the French team won 6-0 and went on to win the 1993 Champions League title.

This time, they play in Europe's No. 2 club competition -- the UEFA Cup.

Of today's 15 games in the first round of the group stage, the match in Moscow probably has the most history. CSKA leads the Russian league, and Marseille is 10 points behind Lyon in France.

Defending champion CSKA is the only previous winner of the 40 teams still alive in the competition. But the Russians got a difficult draw, pitted against Marseille, Dinamo Bucharest, Heerenveen and Levski Sofia in Group F.

Marseille's key player is midfielder Franck Ribery, a slick passer.

"As soon as I hear him coughing in training, I take off my sweater and I give it to him," Marseille coach Jean Fernandez said.

"I wish I had 11 players like him."

Marseille could also start goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who has returned after a six-month ban for spitting at a referee.

"Did I miss playing?" Barthez said. "Absolutely not, because I never stopped playing. I have been supported and backed by all the staff in the past months."

Under the UEFA Cup format, the top three teams from each of the eight-team groups advance to the knockout round of 32.

Though the UEFA Cup is filled with some obscure teams, there are also some familiar names.

Group E includes AS Roma, FC Basel and Red Star Belgrade. In Group D, Dutch league leaders AZ Alkmaar -- a semifinalist last season in the UEFA Cup -- is up against England's Middlesbrough and Swiss side Grasshoppers.
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