Barcelona desperate to revive title defense

Barcelona's Ronaldo de Assis Moreira celebrates after scoring against Sevilla during a Spanish league match at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla on Saturday. Barcelona face Liverpool today. PHOTO: AFP

Reigning champions Barcelona travel to Liverpool today desperate to revive their title defense having lost 2-1 in the home leg of their last 16 clash two weeks ago.

The 2005 champions shocked the Catalan giants with a come-from-behind win at the Nou Camp and with their mean defense they will undoubtedly be favorites to progress to the quarter-finals.

But Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is taking nothing for granted and he knows his team face a battle at Anfield to turn their good work from Spain into a place in the next round.

"Our performance over there has probably sent a message around Europe," Gerrard said. "People were expecting Barcelona to walk all over us but we got our game plan and tactics spot on and got a great result."

"But they showed in the first half hour how good they are and we know we need to show the same work ethic we showed over there. They're not going to let their crown go without a battle," he said.

Barcelona were totally dominant in the first half hour of the first leg and could easily have killed the tie before it reached the end of its first quarter.

Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has warned Liverpool against underestimating his side.

"The danger for Liverpool is if they think they have already done the hard work by winning in Spain," the Brazilian said.

"We know very well we have to get a result but there is plenty of life left in us. We've been in difficult positions in the past and come out victorious. We are the defending European champions and we will not relinquish the trophy without a fight," Ronaldinho said.

In other ties today, Chelsea will be looking to finish off the job at home to Porto having earned a respectable 1-1 draw in Portugal in the first leg.

They will once again be without captain and talisman John Terry as he recovers from being knocked out in last month's League Cup final.

With Manchester United maintaining a nine-point lead at the top of the Premiership, this competition has taken on added significance for Chelsea.

"The Champions League is more realistic than the league," said England fullback Ashley Cole.

"We are nine points behind United and it will be an uphill struggle from now on, but we are in good stead for the next round of the Champions League," he said.

Italian league leaders Inter Milan are sweating on the fitness of their Brazilian forward Adriano ahead of a second leg trip to Valencia.

Inter are up against it after drawing 2-2 at home and can ill afford to be without their top marksman.

Adriano pulled his left hamstring in Wednesday's 1-1 Serie A draw against Udinese, forcing him to miss Saturday's 2-1 victory at Livorno which saw Inter stretch their lead at the top of the Italian table to 16 points.

Luis Figo, who is set to play in the hole behind the two strikers, believes Valencia start as favorites as a result of their two away goals.

"They have bags of experience, they're playing at home and have a small advantage from the first leg," he said. "Valencia are a team that give you little space and are used to big matches, but all we have to concern ourselves with is getting through to the next round."