Hamburg and Middlesbrough are coming off victories in their domestic leagues, and both will be looking to earn a spot in the next round of the UEFA Cup with another victory today.
Hamburg, which won the European Cup in 1983, has never won the UEFA Cup. But the Bundesliga team leads Group A with six points and will reach the knockout stage with at least a draw at Monaco.
On Sunday, Sergei Barbarez scored one goal and set up another to lead Hamburg over Duisburg 2-0. That win kept the team in third place behind Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen.
Monaco lost its opening UEFA Cup match at Viking and needs to earn some points if it wants to stay in European competition. The 2004 Champions League finalist will be without defender Maicon, who hurt his leg during Saturday's 1-0 win over Saint-Etienne in the French league.
Middlesbrough, which rallied twice to beat Fulham 3-2 on Sunday in the English Premier League, also has six points and plays AZ Alkmaar in Group D. The Dutch team, which reached the semifinals of the UEFA Cup last year, won its only match so far in the group stage, but was held to a 0-0 draw at FC Groningen on Saturday.
"We must not play too many matches like this, otherwise we won't become champions," AZ coach Louis Van Haal said.
AZ, which is in third place in the Dutch league, will be without Netherlands international Barry Opdam, who is out with a knee injury.
Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren signed a new contract with the English team Tuesday, and he wants to improve on last year's performance, when his team lost to Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16.
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