In contrast, Italian big guns Inter Milan and AS Roma are both teetering on the edge of humiliation against relative minnows Sochaux of France and Turkish side Gaziantepspor.

Gerard Houllier's shaky hold on the managerial job at Liverpool was slightly bolstered by last week's 2-0 defeat of Bulgarian side Levski Sofia at Anfield.

Houllier said Monday that all the pressure was now on Sofia.

"It was difficult to beat them at home because they had practically ten men behind the ball," said the Frenchman.

"I think they've got to come out and try something. Hopefully that will give us more space to play. We've got an advantage of two goals and a clean sheet, and we have to build on it."

Liverpool, who are listed as 10-1 by British bookmakers to win the trophy they last lifted in 2001, have been boosted by the turbo-charged form of Czech striker Milan Baros since his return from injury.

"He (Baros) has been missing for six months and now when I watch him, I realise just what we have been missing," said Houllier.

Australian forward Harry Kewell will be looking to add to the goals he scored in the first leg and in the weekend Premiership draw against Leeds.

Celtic are romping away with the Scottish title so manager Martin O'Neill is urging his players on to pick up other trophies.

A 3-0 lead over FK Teplice should be enough for O'Neill's men to progress in the Czech Republic.

"We have two big cup matches against Teplice next Wednesday and Rangers again (in the Scottish Cup) and we are focused on them," said O'Neill.

Newcastle's home tie with Norwegian side Valerenga is poised at 1-1 and it is certain that coach Sir Bobby Robson will not repeat his tactics of last week when he angered veteran striker Alan Shearer by resting him on the bench.

Inter Milan were held 2-2 by Sochaux in the first leg in France and despite gaining two valuable away goals the out-of-form Italians will need to put their foot down at the San Siro to pull away from the team lying fourth in the French league.

The Inter players were pelted with missiles by their disgruntled fans after their 3-1 home defeat to Brescia on Sunday which left them sixth in the table, 22 points behind leaders and bitter city rivals AC Milan.

Sochaux were boosted Monday when the club announced that their Brazilian-born Tunisian international Santos would play in Wednesday's match after all.

Santos was set to miss the game after traces of corticoids, or steroid hormones which reduce fatigue and swelling, were found in his urine following a routine check-up.

But club president Jean-Claude Plessis said the importance of the drugs had been overblown.

"The issue is cleared up. We had declared him positive when in fact he wasn't," said Plessis. "The reading was amplified by stress and the birth of his daughter yesterday (Sunday)."

Roma have potentially the trickiest task of the night as they host Turkish side Gaziantepspor, who are leading 1-0 from the first leg.

A 4-1 league win over Parma on Sunday set Roma on their way.

Spanish giants Barcelona will expect to build on their 1-0 first leg lead against Danish side Brondby at the Nou Camp.

Former European champions Marseille meanwhile head to the cold of Ukraine to put a narrow 1-0 lead against Dniepropetrovsk on the line.