Champions League previews: Group D

Equality between four Group D teams can be observed after Tuesday's matches if the hosts Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen manage to beat their rivals Juventus and Deportivo La Coruna respectively.

After Juventus stunned 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen in twice postponed opener the Italian giants become the main favourites of the group.

Regardless that will never be easy for them to perform well at Highbury, as Arsenal is understood to be one of the strongest teams while playing on their home ground. Powerful in London and weak away during the Champions League games the 'Gunners' currently seem to be if not at their summit but somewhere near it. The last Premiership matches against Ipswich and especially Manchester United indicated the failure in La Coruna was not a first sign of crisis but just one unsuccessful performance. The talks that Arsenal have problems in defensive line turned out to be needless as during last two Premier League games Arsenal defenders and young goalkeeper Samuel Taylor were excellent at play. Though it should be mentioned that their likewise efforts against Juventus may not be enough to oppose Turin club's strikers in the person of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet who are believed to recapture their best form. The best prove for that is the last week match against Bayer Leverkusen when Juventus players stunned their rivals already in the first half scoring three goals. As it was mentioned above Italians won 4-0 and
though Leverkusen officials claimed the delay was unfair because it harmed their match preparations and would ultimately cause a distortion of the result, UEFA's disciplinary body concluded the result should stand, because the rescheduling was fully in line with Champions League regulations.

So, Bundesliga current leaders must try to rehabilitate in the forthcoming game against Deportivo La Coruna. They are in desperate need of victory, as the home defeat would mean they lose nearly all their chances to qualify for the quarterfinal stage especially taking into account the trips to London and La Coruna are still to come.

As to the guests, Deportivo will be satisfied even with one point for their current form in the domestic competition is far from being their best one.