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Arsenal, Barca dealing with absences ahead of return leg

Soccer Betting Lines

04/05/2010 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There will be a number of changes made to the lineups of both Arsenal and Barcelona when the two sides take the field at the Nou Camp for the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Injuries and suspensions will rob both sides of key players, with Arsenal missing Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin, William Gallas and now Alex Song, while the defending champions will have to do without the services of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and center backs Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol along with Andres Iniesta.

Barcelona appeared to be on its way to a comfortable win in the first leg with a pair of goals from Ibrahimovic in the second half, but the Gunners put together a strong rally that saw them equalize five minutes from time with a Fabregas penalty kick that evened the match at 2-2.

Arsenal would seem to have momentum on its side, but without Fabregas, who suffered a broken leg on the play that earned him the late spot kick, as well as winger Arshavin, the Gunners will turn to Samir Nasri to carry the scoring load.

"He [Nasri] will of course be important because he will lead our game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the club's official website.

"I would love Cesc to be there 100 percent. But we have no choice, we have to compensate a little bit.

"I have to find a good balance in the side to make life difficult for Barcelona. But of course Nasri is one of the players who can create."

Wenger will also be without midfielder Song, who suffered a groin injury in Saturday's 1-0 win over Wolverhampton.

Barca boss Pep Guardiola will have some defensive issues to deal with on Tuesday with both Pique and Puyol out through suspension.

Rafael Marquez and Gabriel Milito would appear to be the most likely replacements, and even though Barca has the luxury of scoring two away goals in the first leg, the absence of Ibrahimovic will not be easy to overcome either.

Injuries are also a major talking point in Wednesday's return leg at Old Trafford between Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

Bayern claimed a 2-1 win in the first leg in Germany as they scored twice in the last 15 minutes to overcome an early goal from Wayne Rooney.

Rooney injured his ankle in the final minutes of the match, and he was initially ruled out for at least two weeks.

However, there are reports suggesting that Rooney could return as early as Wednesday, although they seem more hopeful than anything.

With Rooney out, Dimitar Berbatov will once again need to supply the goals, something he failed to do in United's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.

There is better news on the injury front for the German side as winger Arjen Robben, who missed the first leg win with a calf injury, will be included in the team for Wednesday's contest.

The other match on Wednesday features the return leg of an all-French quarterfinal between Lyon and Bordeaux.

Lisandro Lopez scored two goals in Lyon's 3-1 win last week, but he will miss the game through suspension, as will Sidney Govou.

Bordeaux had won their last seven Champions League games before the 3-1 loss, and they stumbled again this past weekend in losing 2-1 to Nancy as they rested several players for the return leg.

The fourth quarterfinal features Inter Milan traveling to Russia to face CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.

Inter brings with them a 1-0 lead from the San Siro as Diego Milito scored in the 65th minute of the first leg contest, and their 3-0 win over Bologna this past weekend is further proof that Jose Mourinho's men are in top form.

CSKA Moscow will be trying to become the first Russian team to reach the semifinals of the competition since Spartak Moscow did so in 1991.