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Expect the unexpected in Champions League

Juventus and AC Milan have forgotten how to score and Barcelona has lost the winning habit.

Maybe the Champions League -- Europe's most prestigious club title -- is going to one of the teams who have never won it, or at least not for a very long time.

The title has developed a custom of going to unexpected teams.

FC Porto was a surprise winner two seasons ago under Jose Mourinho, and Liverpool posted a memorable cup final triumph over Milan last year after laboring to a distant fifth in the English Premier League.

Now it could be Arsenal, Lyon or Benfica although Villarreal has to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit to an Inter Milan side which has not won the title since 1965. Benfica's last triumph was in 1962 while Arsenal, Lyon and Villarreal have never even reached the semifinals.

Juventus, Barcelona and Milan, by contrast, are three clubs who should be dominating the competition. All three could easily go out this week.

Coming off a 2-0 first-leg loss to Arsenal, Italian league leader Juventus was held 0-0 by last place Treviso on Saturday. Twin strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet are out of form and coach Fabio Capello is hoping Alessandro Del Piero will return from injury to boost his ailing attack.

"A final decision about Del Piero will be taken after final fitness tests Tuesday," said Capello, who has four key players banned but can at least welcome back Pavel Nedved from suspension.

"We hope we can cause Arsenal some damage. A 2-0 [deficit] is extremely difficult to recover but much will depend on whether we can score one goal in the first half."

Arsenal followed its Champions League victory with a 5-0 thumping of Aston Villa on Saturday with Thierry Henry scoring twice to give him 27 goals in all competitions this season.

But Arsenal may be forced to face Juventus in Turin without 18-year-old Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who was the standout player at Highbury. Fabregas injured his foot against Villa, and Wenger is worried the teenager won't make it for the second leg.

"It looks quite swollen. He got kicked on the top of his foot," the Arsenal manager said. "We also have [Emmanuel] Eboue who is only 50-50 for Wednesday so we have some injury worries."

Milan posted a 0-0 draw with runaway French league leader Lyon in the first leg but tumbled 1-0 at struggling Lecce in Serie A action on Saturday.

The loss came after a 12-game unbeaten streak but coach Carlo Ancelotti rested several regular starters, Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko, Jaap Stam and Alessandro Nesta.

The French champion welcomes Brazilian midfielder Juninho back from suspension and the Italians will have to beware his shooting prowess, especially from free kicks.

"It will be a very big match," Juninho said. "On the one hand, a team which is known all the over the world, and on the other, a team which is on the up and wants to make history by reaching the semifinals. The first 15-20 minutes will be intense."

Barcelona was held 0-0 by Benfica in Lisbon and then 1-1 at home by 10-man Real Madrid in Spanish League action on Saturday. Although it remains 11 points clear in the league title race, Frank Rijkaard's team has scored just once in three games after dominating opponents in Spain and Europe all season.

"You have to remember that the team has created the same number of chances in these games as in the rest of the season," the Dutchman said. "It's not that the team isn't working hard or creating chances."

Barca has injury problems, however, with Lionel Messi, Rafael Marquez and Edmilson already out along with long-term absentee Xavi Hernandez and Thiago Motta extremely doubtful after pulling a thigh muscle against Madrid.

Like Milan, Inter rested several regulars -- Walter Samuel, Luis Figo, Adriano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Dejan Stankovic -- for Saturday's Serie A game against Messina but the backup players triumphed 3-0.

Villarreal gave Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme a rest but a 1-0 victory over Real Zaragoza lifted the club to seventh in the Spanish league.

After the second legs are over, the semifinal pairings also will be known.

Because of the first-leg results, the odds are on an Arsenal-Inter Milan matchup in the semifinals and that will bring back memories of two group phase meetings two seasons ago.

Inter scored a 3-0 victory at Highbury but the Gunners went to San Siro to win 5-1.

In the other half of the draw, the winner of AC Milan and Lyon faces either Barcelona or Benfica.
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