PARIS (AFP) - Wayne Rooney, Roy Makaay and Raul look set to terrorise defences after the star trio from Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid scored eight goals between them in the previous round of Champions League matches.
The 18-year-old England striker Rooney scored a remarkable hat-trick on his Manchester United debut, and first Champions League match, against Fenerbahce three weeks ago.
The 27-million-pound (48.7-million-dollar) buy from Everton now has a chance to carry on his "three-goals-a-game" record in the competition in a Group D match at Sparta Prague.
Bayern Munich marksman Makaay had praise heaped on him after his hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing against Ajax last time out to leave him with an impressive scoring tally of 10 goals in 10 matches in the competition.
Bayern captain Oliver Kahn likened Makaay to West Germany 1974 World Cup icon Gerd Muller, scorer of 68 goals in 62 internationals, and Munich president Franz Beckenbauer admitted there were some comparisons between the two.
He now has the chance to show it wasn't a flash in the pan though a tough Group C trip to Juventus is not the perfect platform for a goalscoring exhibition.
A rejuvenated Raul, who scored twice in Madrid's 4-2 home victory over Roma in their last Group B match, now has the chance to show what he can do against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev.
Raul, the darling of Real Madrid, has not had the best season so far but if he can recapture the kind of form he showed for the nine-time European champions against Roma, his reputation will have been restored.
Michael's Owen heroics in an England shirt last week are not expected to change anything at club level and the former Liverpool player is expected to start the game on the Bernabeu bench once again, as he has done ever since Mariano Garcia Remon took over at the helm last month.
United manager Alex Ferguson meanwhile poured scorn on any suggestion that Rooney might be rested after three quick matches since his return from injury.
"People who think that are in for a shock. I think Rooney needs games to be honest. He's only 18 years of age and he's been out for 96 days.
"Since then he has played twice for England and twice for us (plus once as sub).
"That is only four games and if you think about it, you would always like to give a player six pre-season games before the start of the season and Wayne hasn't had that.
"The game at Birmingham and Tuesday's in Prague makes it six games before we play Arsenal next Sunday and that may be the start of our season."
Rooney's name is already down to lead United's attack as they face the bottom club in their Champions League group - and Paul Scholes could also return to the starting line-up.
Lyon, who thrashed Caen 4-0 in the French league on Friday night, travel to Fenerbahce in the other game in the group.
Since defeating the mighty Real Madrid 3-0 in the Champions League a little over a month ago Bayer Leverkusen have gone off the boil and must rediscover the winning habit for Tuesday's tussle with Roma at the BayArena.
Leverkusen are locked with Real on three points and anything but a win against the Italians could be costly with Dinamo Kiev three points ahead of the Germans at the group summit.
Meanwhile Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will come up against some very familiar faces when his team tackles Spanish outfit Deportivo La Coruna at Anfield on Tuesday.
But the ex-Valencia coach has been warned not to expect an easy ride when the two sides meet in the third of their Group A ties.
"Deportivo always play to the maximum against English clubs and we are ready for Liverpool," Deportivo's midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron warned.
"For us, this is the first final of the season and we need to win it to go through (to the next stage). We want all three points."
Deportivo, semi-finalists in last season's Champions League, have made a miserable start this time around, earning just one point from their opening two matches. They have won only one of their last 10 away matches in the tournament.
Benitez, who joined Liverpool in the summer, knows all about Deportivo.
"The problem is they have almost the same players and the same manager for seven years," Benitez said, adding that it was difficult to beat a team that had enjoyed such continuity.
"When you talk about Deportivo, who have been winning for years, you are talking about a level of confidence that means they believe they can win any game. If you want to win titles you have to have the same mentality."
The Spaniard recognised also that Liverpool were no longer a dominant force in Europe, having failed to win the continent's premier club tournament for 20 years.