Athens in sight for Champions League survivors

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) The winding road to Champions League treasure in Athens next month will make another key turn this week when the eight surviving clubs battle for precious advantages in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

With holders Barcelona consigned to the scrapheap after defeat by Liverpool in the previous round, the draw has thrown up four intriguing ties, Milan's clash against Bayern Munich offering real heavyweight appeal.

Milan are down in sixth place in Serie A but have six European Cups to their name and would view a glorious finale in the Greek capital as redemption for a season that began very much under a cloud.

In the other ties, Manchester United, still on course to repeat their famous treble of 1999, take on Roma; Chelsea, bidding for their first Champions League final, face Valencia and Liverpool do battle with PSV Eindhoven.

Bayern Munich, who have won the European Cup four times, have traditionally struggled to make any impression on Italian soil and the memory of last season's defeat by Milan in the first knockout round will be fresh in their minds.

Milan tore Bayern apart in the San Siro then, winning 4-1 with goals from Filippo Inzaghi, Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka, after the first leg in Munich had been drawn 1-1.

Shevchenko is now at Chelsea but Inzaghi and Kaka remain and will have the German champions in their sights again.

KAHN SUSPENDED Bayern, six points off the pace in the Bundesliga, will be confident of taking a positive result back to Bavaria for the second leg when experienced goalkeeper Oliver Khan will be eligible after being suspended for Tuesday's first leg.

Kahn is banned after losing his temper in a doping control following the victory over Real Madrid in the last round and 22-year-old Michael Rensing wears the gloves in the San Siro.

In tomorrow's other tie, PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman's hopes of wrecking another English club's ambitions have been hampered by an injury crisis as they prepare to host 2005 champions Liverpool.

Koeman masterminded the exit of Arsenal in the previous round and knocked out Liverpool and Manchester United last season when in charge at Benfica.

However, with Brazilian central defender Alex and Ivorian striker Arouna Kone out and rising talent Ibrahim Afellay doubtful, a seasoned Liverpool side should prove too strong over the two legs.

Chelsea, bidding for their third semi-final in four seasons, have been far from impressive recently, although their ability to grind out results has kept them in touch with Manchester United in the Premier League title race.

They struggled for a last-gasp 1-0 win over bottom club Watford on Saturday and will have to raise their game against a Valencia side who provide the spine to Spain's national side.

MORIENTES MISSING Valencia are without Fernando Morientes, tormentor of Chelsea for Monaco in 2004, with a dislocated shoulder and Carlos Marchena and David Navarro, both of whom are suspended for their part in the ugly scenes against Inter Milan in the previous round.

Jose Mourinho's side are without Dutch winger Arjen Robben who needs a knee operation, although midfielder Frank Lampard will play despite a fractured wrist.

Roma produced possibly the shock of the previous round when they eliminated highly-fancied Olympique Lyon and they will be relishing the visit of Manchester United on Wednesday.

United have been unreliable away from home in Europe this season, losing in Copenhagen and Glasgow, and will be without three key defenders against a Roma side for whom talisman Francesco Totti is pulling the strings.

Nemanja Vidic joined Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre on the sidelines on Saturday after dislocating his shoulder in the 4-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.

Reuters SAM GC1004