United and Dynamo in fine form

uefa.com rounds up all the news from UEFA Champions League Groups A-D, which stage Tuesday's fixtures.

GROUP A

AS Monaco FC will look forward to the return of Argentinian striker Javier Saviola and Uruguayan front man Ernesto Chevantón from international duty for the visit of Liverpool FC on Tuesday after the pair missed Friday's 3-1 loss to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. It was Monaco's eighth game without victory in Ligue 1 and they dropped to sixth place, eleven points behind leaders Olympique Lyonnais. Liverpool welcomed back captain Steven Gerrard after a two-month lay off with a broken bone in his foot on Saturday, but the England midfield player's 34 minutes against Middlesbrough FC were not enough to prevent a 2-0 Premiership defeat that leaves his side in eighth place. Manager Rafael Benítez is without injured strikers Milan Baroš and Djibril Cissé, and at Boro he partnered Luis García with Harry Kewell in a makeshift attack, and tried Florent Sinama-Pongolle late on.

Olympiacos CFP defeated OFI Crete 3-0 on Saturday to stay within two points of Greek leaders Panathinaikos FC, thanks to two goals from Giovanni and one late on from Rivaldo on his return from injury. Right-back Dimitrios Mavrogenidis is still recovering from a quad injury while striker Ioannis Okkas and midfield player Predrag Djordjevic were both rested to recover full fitness for Tuesday. RC Deportivo La Coruña must win at Olympiacos to keep alive any hopes of progress and need a goal to avoid becoming only the second team not to score in their opening five group games. On Saturday they were boosted with a 2-0 win against Villarreal CF, Diego Tristán scoring the first and Albert Luque chipping the second. Coach Javier Irureta has the entire squad at his disposal apart from Walter Pandiani, who is recovering from lumbago while Víctor Sánchez who was granted leave at the weekend, will be available in Greece.

GROUP B

Real Madrid CF suffered a 3-0 defeat by bitter rivals FC Barcelona at Camp Nou on Saturday with Samuel Eto'o, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ronaldinho finding the net. Iván Helguera failed a late fitness test on his right knee and did not take part as Madrid fell four points behind the Primera División leaders. A win on Tuesday against Bayer 04 Leverkusen would take Madrid through. The German side fell to their first home Bundesliga defeat of the season, 3-0 against FC Schalke 04. However, they have no new injury worries ahead of their trip to Madrid, and will miss only long-term absentees Jermaine Jones and Clemens Fritz.

FC Dynamo Kyiv defeated FC Volyn Lutsk 4-0 in the Ukrainian Cup on Friday to seal a 6-1 aggregate victory. Brazilian duo Diogo Rincón and Kleber scored before the break and two Ruslan Bidnenko goals after the interval confirmed Dynamo's victory. Their Tuesday visitors, already-eliminated AS Roma, need a win to keep alive any UEFA Cup hopes, However, on Friday they were defeated 2-1 at home by AC Siena in the first leg of their second-round Italian Cup tie. Tore André Flo scored twice, either side of a Francesco Totti goal. Olivier Dacourt and Christian Panucci are still injured, while Totti is set to be rested against Dynamo.

GROUP C

Like Roma, confirmed Group C winners Juventus FC suffered an Italian Cup defeat, losing 2-0 to Atalanta BC. Fabio Capello picked an understrength team, Pavel Nedved the only familiar starter - and he left the pitch with a leg injury that could rule him out of the visit of AFC Ajax on Tuesday. Ajax warmed up in style for their 250th European game with a 5-0 Eredivisie win at De Graafschap. Julien Escudé opened the scoring three minutes into the second half, after which Mauro Rosales, Escudé again, 17-year-old Ryan Babel and Tomás Galásek added to the lead. Steven Pienaar and goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont are both out with knee ligament injuries while John O'Brien is sidelined with a pulled hamstring muscle. Defender Johnny Heitinga missed the weekend game due to water on the knee but could return on Tuesday.

FC Bayern München lost Roy Makaay to an ankle injury an hour into their 3-1 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday - a result that took them to the summit of the Bundesliga for the first time since May 2003. Further examinations will determine his fitness ahead of the visit of Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC. Sebastian Deisler returned to action against Kaiserslautern as a second-half substitute. Maccabi suffered their third successive defeat and slipped to 14 points behind Maccabi Haifa FC after a 3-0 defeat by the leaders. Goalkeeper Liran Strauber was sent off in added time and, with no remaining substitutions, Bruno Reis conceded the resultant Giovani Rosso penalty that completed the scoring. Forward Barukh Dego missed the game due to suspension.

GROUP D

Manchester United FC, defeated Charlton Athletic FC 2-0 to move into fifth place in the Premiership. In Sir Alex Ferguson's 999th game in charge, two of his stalwart players, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, scored the goals, with Louis Saha sidelined with an ankle injury that rules him out for a month. Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooij were taken off early to prepare for Sir Alex's 1,000th match, the visit of Olympique Lyonnais, who were held 0-0 by ten-man Paris Saint-Germain FC on Friday, though they still sit three points clear in Ligue 1. Paul Le Guen welcomed Sylvain Wiltord back from injury, but Giovane Elber's return from an ankle problem is now not expected until February.

Fenerbahçe SK went five points clear at the top of the Turkish Superleague after defeating Trabzonspor 2-0 on Saturday. Alex scored an 18th-minute penalty and although Márcio Nobre was sent off eight minutes before half-time, Tuncay Sanli confirmed victory late on. Midfield duo Selçuk Sahin and Serkan Balci were serving a domestic suspension, while striker Pierre van Hooijdonk missed the match because of illness. However, Deniz Baris has a suspected torn calf muscle and faces a medical. A victory is needed for Fenerbahçe against AC Sparta Praha, who can only reach the UEFA Cup. Sparta consolidated their Czech First Division lead with a 3-1 home win against FK Jablonec 97, all the goals coming in the first 22 minutes including two for Tomáš Jun.