Club Brugge braced for rampant Roma

Club Brugge KV coach Jan Ceulemans faces an anxious wait over the fitness of a number of defenders as he prepares the side to welcome free-scoring AS Roma to the Jan Breydelstadion for the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

Defensive concern
Knee injuries to Joos Valgaeren, Jason Vandelanoitte and Philippe Clement have left the Belgium outfit with just one fully-fit central defender in Birger Maertens. Clement tore ligaments in the 2-2 draw against K. Sint Truidense VV on Saturday and Ceulemans admitted his absence leaves him with a major headache. "Vandelanoitte has a chance of starting but playing without Clement will be a huge loss," the coach said. "I might shift Olivier De Cock across to play at the heart of the defence - he has done the job before."

'Excellent form'
He may not have "done the job" against the likes of Mancini and Daniele De Rossi, however, and Ceulemans' assistant Franky Van Der Elst, who has sent the Italian side play several times in recent weeks, is aware of the task in hand, saying: "They are in excellent form. This will be a match at [UEFA] Champions League level. Roma play attacking football and score a lot of goals, but I suspect they will take it easy in the first leg."

Totti blow
An ankle injury to Roma's 15-goal top scorer Francesco Totti could strengthen Club Brugge's belief, but his loss has been tempered by the return of Vincenzo Montella. The 31-year-old made a brief substitute appearance on Saturday as Roma stretched their winning streak in Serie A to nine consecutive games, and with Shabani Nonda also sidelined, he is likely to be preferred to Brazilian winger Rodrigo Taddei.

Roma resilience
"Obviously Totti's absence is very important," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti conceded. "He's a great player and a real leader. However, we're in fine form and have already won games without Totti this season."