After suffering a 1-2 defeat two weeks ago to Liverpool at Camp Nou in the Champions League, Barcelona enter the return leg at Anfield tonight hoping to turn the tie on its head and progress to the last 8.

Barcelona take on Liverpool (19:45 GMT) and have to score a minimum of 2 goals to have any hope of progressing to the next round.

First leg blues
After being in front for much of the first half of the 1st leg, Barcelona allowed Liverpool to come back into the game with a 43rd minute goal from Craig Bellamy, and a 74th minute winner from John Arne Riise. This makes it very difficult for Frank Rijkaard's men to overcome Liverpool, not only because Liverpool were victorious in the first leg, but also because they scored 2 away goals. A 0-1 score at Anfield will therefore not be enough to see Barcelona progress. The blaugrana must score at least 2 goals if they are to stand any chance of knocking out Liverpool of the competition.

Nothing to lose
Recently there have been a lot of woes for the team, with a defeat to Valencia, the defeat to Liverpool, and a defeat to Sevilla occuring in the space of 2 weeks. Optimism has thus lowered a bit amongst fans ahead of the match against the reds, and there may be less expectation for the club to progress into the last 8. Rijkaard will use this to his advantage, as there will be less pressure on him and his players. Rijkaard could possibly choose to opt for the new 3-4-3 formation which was played away against Zaragoza (resulting in a victory), and for the first half of the game against Sevilla (the first half finished 1-1), or stick to the tried-and-tested 4-3-3. Either way he will hope his players can score 2 goals in the first half, and work hard to keep a clean sheet. Such a score would mean Barcelona knock Liverpool out of the competition.

New situation for Liverpool
Since he took charge of Liverpool, coach Rafa Benítez has never taken a victory back to Anfield for the second leg of the Champions league knockout tie. Therefore it will be interesting to see how Benítez lines up his team at Anfield, and whether he will choose to put the tie beyond Barcelona with an early goal, or sit back and defend, hoping to prevent Barcelona from scoring more than 1 goal. The Anfield crowd will also hope to help play a big part in the result; the Liverpool fans are renowned for being very vocal, and because of this Anfield is sometimes referred to as a 'fortress'.

Eto'o may return
Samuel Eto'o was left out of the squad which lost to Liverpool in the first leg. However Eto'o featured in the match against Sevilla on Saturday, which may mean he will start at Anfield. If Eto'o does play, it will serve as the striker's return to Champions League football after tearing ligaments in his knee playing against Werder Bremen in September during the group stages. The fans will look hopefully to the Cameroonian striker to help the club turn the tie around with his pace, team work, and goal threat. Eto'o scored the equalising goal in last year's final, and has scored a total of 11 goals for the Blaugrana in the Champions League in the past 3 seasons. However the player that scored Barcelona's Champions League winning goal against Arsenal in May, Belletti, sits out the match after an injury in the first leg. Ezquerro, Motta and Gio also sit out the match, but Deco and Thuram return after being rested against Sevilla.

Barcelona hope to repeat history
A 3-1 score would mean Barcelona progress, and such a feat is not impossible for Barcelona, as they proved 5 years ago. The side travelled to Anfield in November 2001, and after going 1-0 down, the blaugrana put on a heroic display, with the game finishing 1-3 in Barcelona's favour. For the third goal, the team put together a move consisting of 29 passes, which finished with the then Barcelona player Marc Overmars dribbling the ball around keeper Jerzy Dudek, and scoring infront of the Kop end. The goal has stayed in the hearts of all Cules, and may provide inspiration for the 2007 sidewhen they are on the pitch tonight.

Squads
Barcelona: Valdés, Giuly, Márquez, Xavi, Iniesta, Jorquera, Puyol, Oleguer, Edmílson, Sylvinho, Eto'o, Messi, Ronaldinho, Deco, Thuram, Zambrotta, Gudjohnsen and Saviola.

Liverpool Reina, Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Aurelio, Pennant, Sissoko, Alonso, Gerrard, Gonzalez, Mascherano, Dudek, Crouch, Bellamy, Kuyt and Fowler.