Liverpool's Spanish manager Rafa Benitez leads his team against visiting Chelsea today before FC Barcelona host Manchester United tomorrow.
Benitez, who won the UEFA Cup with Valencia before joining Liverpool, is seeking victory at Anfield in the first leg to help launch the team to a third Champions League final in four years.
Hoping for Torres
Benitez guided Liverpool to its fifth European championship in 2005 but lost last year's final to AC Milan. He will be relying on another Spaniard to go one better this time - striker Fernando Torres.
Torres has 30 goals in his debut season for the Reds, including five in the Champions League, and he sat out Saturday's 2-0 English Premier League win at Fulham to stay fresh.
"People ask me if I am getting tired now because I am coming to the end of my first season in England,'' Torres said. "Of course it is a hard league, but I do not feel tired at all. When you are scoring goals and the team is winning games, you have more energy.
"It is only when the team is struggling and you are not playing well or scoring goals, that you don't feel your best.''
Liverpool are unbeaten in six matches, three of which were against Arsenal. After a draw in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals and another 1-1 three days later in the English league, Liverpool beat the Gunners 4-2 to clinch a place in the European semi-finals.
"The emotion I felt after the Arsenal game was very, very strong,'' Torres said. ''I have never felt like that before. I was almost in tears at the end of the match when the crowd were singing.
"If that was a quarter-final, I can't imagine what it will be like playing Chelsea.''
Liverpool have met Chelsea 18 times in the past four seasons, twice edging the Blues in the Champions League semi-finals.
Such familiarity leaves Benitez in a good position to judge his rival coach's performance.
Avram Grant has attracted criticism for failing to draw attractive, attacking football from Chelsea since replacing Jose Mourinho in September, but his team is just three points behind Manchester United in the Premier League.
"They were in the final of the (League) Cup, they are in the race for the title still, and in the Champions League semi-final, so he must be doing a good job,'' Benitez said. ''I understand why he is under pressure but that is nothing unusual for a top side.''
Chelsea are hoping they can make the most of playing next week's second leg at home, where they are unbeaten in any competition since February 2006.
For Barcelona, the match at Camp Nou represents a last chance to salvage their season.
Barcelona won the title just two years ago and were lauded as the most entertaining team in Europe, but are looking like a long shot for the title after a 0-0 draw with visiting Espanyol on Saturday left them with one win in eight Spanish league games and 11 points behind leaders Real Madrid.
But their chances of an upset win against the Premier League leaders have improved dramatically after star Argentina forward Lionel Messi recovered from injury in time to play.
"Our dynamic in the Champions League is totally different to the league. We feel more confident,'' defender Gabriel Milito said. ''In this type of game there are no clear favourites.''
Lively display
Messi came on as a second-half substitute on Saturday and gave a typically lively display in only his second appearance after a lengthy lay-off. Coach Frank Rijkaard has been timing Messi's return for the United match, with his importance even greater after an injured Ronaldinho was ruled out for the rest of the season.
"We have the ability to get through,'' Andres Iniesta said on Sunday. "But we have to allow our rivals as few options as possible.''
With Cristiano Ronaldo in top form all season, United are confident of emulating their 1999 Champions League title.
"They have great players who change a game at any moment,'' Iniesta said. "I'm worried about the entire team, not just one player.''
United, who are heading to Camp Nou for the first time since beating Bayern Munich in the 1999 final, showed again, this weekend, that they can get a result even if they are below their best. They were trailing 1-0 with two minutes left at Blackburn when Carlos Tevez scored to salvage a draw.
Wayne Rooney is fit to compete for a place with Tevez despite being forced off toward the end of Saturday's match because of a hip injury.
"Sometimes when you get a kick on the bone it can be very sore at the time, but I expect he'll recover,'' United manager Alex Ferguson said.
Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, and midfielders Owen Hargreaves and Anderson could also play after being rested on Saturday. Paul Scholes and Gary Neville could each make their 100th Champions League appearance.
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