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LONDON. — Two of Europe’s greatest football clubs with 15 European Cup successes between them renew their rivalry at Anfield tomorrow night with Liverpool looking to preserve their unlikely 100 percent record against Real Madrid in Europe’s elite competition.
While that match evokes past and present glory, Barcelona play Ajax Amsterdam in another Champions League match between European aristocracy with eight European Cup wins between them.

The game between AS Roma and Bayern Munich in Rome, another heavyweight affair, gives Francesco Totti another chance to beat his own record as the oldest man to score in the competition.

Real, the reigning European champions, have lost all three competitive European matches they have played against Liverpool: the 1981 European Cup final when Liverpool beat them 1-0 in Paris as well as 4-0 and 1-0 defeats in the last 16 of the Champions League in 2009.

But Real arrive for their Group B match in great form, having won their last seven matches in all competitions following their second successive 5-0 win in La Liga, over Levante on Saturday.

Liverpool meanwhile will need to improve on their somewhat fortunate 3-2 English Premier League win over Queens Park Rangers on Sunday when they needed the help of two own goals from the struggling London side for a late victory.

Still, coach Brendan Rodgers says he is keen to face Real tomorrow night. “Real Madrid are playing as well as they have played for the last five to 10 years, the threats they have,” he said after the QPR game. “I am really looking forward to that.”

Real’s win at Levante featured another two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, who has now scored 15 goals in seven La Liga starts this season. Real coach Carlos Ancelotti, always keen to do well against Liverpool after they beat his AC Milan side on penalties in the famous 2005 final in Istanbul after trailing 3-0 at half-time, has two big games ahead of him this week.

After the trip to Anfield comes the first Clasico of the season against Barcelona at the weekend.

“We are on a good run but we need to remember that behind the goals there is sacrifice, fight and concentration.

“You don’t score without sacrifice and concentration. The best players realise that,” Ancelotti said.

But Real Madrid look set to be without Gareth Bale for their Champions League trip to Liverpool today after a scan revealed the Welshman has an abdominal injury.

“After the tests carried out on Gareth Bale by the Real Madrid medical team, a muscular injury has been diagnosed in his right pyramidalis muscle,” the club said in a statement yesterday without stating how long they expect Bale to be sidelined. The pyramidalis is a small muscle of the anterior abdominal wall. The 25-year-old was an unused substitute in Madrid’s 5-0 thrashing of Levante on Saturday.

And Real boss Ancelotti insisted after that game he wouldn’t take any risks with Bale’s fitness given his side face an even more demanding task when Barcelona visit the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

However, Madrid sports daily AS reported yesterday that Bale will also miss the first El Clasico of the season. The European champions sit comfortably on top of Group B with maximum points from their opening two games, three points ahead of Liverpool and Basel.

Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano believes that tonight’s visit of Ajax will not only help get their Group F campaign back on track, after losing 3-2 to Paris St Germain three weeks ago, but also prepare them for the Clasico.

Uefa Champions League Fixtures (all 8:45pm unless otherwise stated)

Today: CSKA Moscow v Manchester City (6pm); FC Porto v Athletic Club; FC Schalke 04 v Sporting Lisbon; Roma v FC Bayern Münich; APOEL Nicosia v Paris Saint Germain; BATE Borisov v Shakhtar Donetsk; Barcelona v Ajax; Chelsea v NK Maribor.

Tomorrow: Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Zenit St Petersburg; Monaco v Benfica; Olympiakos v Juventus; RSC Anderlecht v Arsenal; Atlético de Madrid v Malmö FF; Ludogorets Razgrad v FC Basel; Galatasaray v Borussia Dortmund; Liverpool v Real Madrid. — Soccernet.