Non-flying Dutchman Bergkamp to the rescue

Arsenal's non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp looks set to be used in a rare trip to the European mainland against Ajax in the Champions League.

Bergkamp, one of the most skilful strikers of his generation but now in the twilight of his career, has made just one away trip to the continent this season, to Eindhoven in September because of his fear of air travel.

Though Arsenal are on a high from their 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City at the weekend, manager Arsene Wenger must do without injured Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu and needs Bergkamp's skills for this pivotal second phase fixture in Amsterdam.

Victory would give Group B leaders Arsenal eight points with two matches to go and a good platform from which to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Wenger was expected to ask Bergkamp to set off early by road and ferry to his former club with whom they drew 1-1 at Highbury last week.

In the other fixture in the group, AS Roma travel to Valencia knowing another slip-up will almost certainly spell elimination from the competition after three defeats in three games.

AS Roma president Franco Sensi said earlier this month that Fabio Capello will remain as coach despite the club's disastrous season.

"The faith I have in Capello is without question," Sensi told the Corriere dello Sport.

Roma captain Francesco Totti has recovered from back pain and will travel to Spain.

Totti, whose season has been plagued by injury, missed Roma's 1-0 defeat at home to the Spanish champions last week and Sunday's 2-1 league defeat at Udinese.

Capello also welcomes back Brazilian pair Walter Samuel and Emerson from suspension.

Strikers Vincenzo Montella and Marco Delvecchio are both injured, so Antonio Cassano is expected to play up front alongside Totti in a match Roma must win to keep alive their already slim hopes of making the last eight.

Valencia are third in the group on five points, behind Arsenal and Ajax only on goal difference.

Bobby Robson's Newcastle host Bayer Leverkusen after their Group A heroics from last week.

The 3-1 winning scoreline in Leverkusen's BayArena on Tuesday night has kept alive Newcastle's outside hopes of qualifying from Group A.

However they really need a repeat performance with all three points agianst the struggling Germans, who recently sacked coach Klaus Toppmoller, at St James' Park.

Talismanic striker Alan Shearer, suspended last week, will be back in action though Craig Bellamy is still banned and the Welshman will have to wait until the Inter Milan trip on March 11 to remind Europe just what he can do.

Newcastle have done much better than expected from their Champions League campaign and their main focus will continue to be ensuring another crack at the trophy next season by finishing in the Premiership top four.

Meanwhile Dutch forward Marc Overmars will miss Barcelona's match against Inter Milan on Wednesday after suffering a tiny muscle tear in his left thigh.

Overmars was replaced by Luis Enrique in the 42nd minute of Barcelona's 4-0 win over Real Betis at the Nou Camp on Saturday.

Barcelona beat Inter 3-0 last Tuesday to set a new record of 11 consecutive Champions League victories and put themselves in the driving seat to reach the quarter-finals of Europe's top club competition.

Inter coach Hector Cuper said a strong defence was the key to upsetting the Spanish visitors, who have won three matches in a row under new coach Raddy Antic.

"We cannot afford to make the same kind of mistakes we made last week," Cuper said.

"If we do they will punish us. We must keep things tight at the back and we can build from there."

Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba, who was sent off 10 minutes from the end in Spain for an late tackle on Carlos Puyol, is suspended for the match, as is Colombian defender Ivan Cordoba.

Inter's on-loan striker Gabriel Batistuta cannot play as he is cup-tied having represented Roma earlier in the tournament, while fellow Argentinians Hernan Crespo and Matias Almeyda are nursing long-term injuries.

Wednesday

Champions League second phase fixtures

Group A Inter Milan (Ita) v Barcelona (Spa)

Newcastle (Eng) v Bayer Leverkusen (Ger)

Group B: Ajax (Ned) v Arsenal (Eng)

Valencia (Spa) v AS Roma (Ita)