PARIS — Reigning champion Barcelona faces Bayer Leverkusen without the injured Lionel Messi while Jose Mourinho goes back to his old club Porto with Chelsea in the Champions League Tuesday. Here we run the rule over the eight games being played in Groups E, F, G and H Tuesday: Group E Barcelona is reeling from the blow of losing Lionel Messi for up to eight weeks with knee ligament damage as it prepares to welcome Leverkusen to the Camp Nou. The Argentine came off early in Barca's 2-1 win over Las Palmas in La Liga Saturday and will be missed as the reigning European champion seek a first win in Group E. The Catalans are also without the injured Claudio Bravo, Thomas Vermaelen and Rafinha, reducing Luis Enrique's squad to just 15 fit outfield players. Meanwhile, Leverkusen makes the trip fresh from a 3-0 victory at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga Saturday. Roma is the favorite heading into the other Group E game in Belarus against BATE, although the Italian side makes the trip without Edin Dzeko, Francesco Totti and Seydou Keita, who are all injured. Group F Bayern Munich and Dinamo Zagreb are looking to build on wins in their opening matches as they clash at the Allianz Arena, but anything other than a convincing Bayern win would be a major surprise. Arsenal heads into its home clash with Greek champion Olympiakos buoyed by a superb 5-2 victory at Leicester City in the Premier League Saturday but with little margin for error in Group F after its shock 2-1 reverse in Zagreb two weeks ago. History is certainly on the Gunners' side — they are unbeaten in eight home meetings with Greek teams, while Olympiakos has lost on all 12 past visits to England. Group G Maccabi hosts a Champions League group game for the first time since 2004 and does so looking to bounce back from a 4-0 loss at Chelsea in its Group G opener. Dynamo Kiev, meanwhile, comes into the game after drawing 2-2 with Porto in its first match and is unbeaten since going down to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Super Cup in July. FC Porto faces Chelsea in the other Group G match. There is no shortage of sub-plots surrounding this encounter at the Estadio do Dragao. Above all, it sees Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho return to face the club he led to Champions League glory in 2004. He has been back since — in his first season at Chelsea, the London club lost 2-1 at Porto in the group stage, while it drew 1-1 there in the last 16 in 2006-07. But there is increased pressure on Mourinho following a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United Saturday. Group H In arguably the most open group of all, there is little margin for error for either Lyon or Valencia as they meet at the Stade de Gerland. Zenit St Petersburg is up against Gent in the other group game. In such a close section, Andre Villas-Boas' Zenit can take a big step toward qualification by beating Gent. — AP
