Brazilian striker Elber is in danger of missing Bayern Munich's Champions League second leg quarter-final tie against Manchester United next Wednesday after injuring his knee against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
According to the Bayern Munich website (www.bayern- muenchen.de), the team doctor drained fluid from Elber's left knee during an examination on Monday and the player will not train again until Friday.
Bayern, who were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United with two goals in the closing minutes of the 1999 final, lead 1-0 after last week's first leg.
The Brazilian originally injured the knee two years ago and it become swollen after taking a knock in the 1-1 draw with Dortmund.
Already missing from the tie will be United's David Beckham and Bayern's Bixente Lizarazu and Hansan Salihamidzic. All three are suspended.
Arsene Wenger is ready to plunge Latvian defender Igors Stepanovs back into the race for Champions League qualification tonight - just three miles from the scene of his worst Arsenal nightmare.
Wenger will rest Tony Adams and Lee Dixon for the Premiership game at Manchester City. That means Stepanovs, who has been protected by Wenger ever since he was hopelessly exposed by Manchester United in a 6-1 drubbing at Old Trafford on February 25th, is in contention for a return.
Arsenal are to lobby the Nigerian Football Association for permission for Nwanko Kanu to play in their Champions League quarter-final second leg away to Valencia next week. Kanu is set to be called up by Nigeria for a World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone, which they cannot afford to lose. Nigeria are unlikely to release the player.
Graeme Souness knows victory over first division leaders Fulham at Ewood Park tonight would help his Blackburn Rovers side take a massive step back towards the Premiership.
Billed as the first division's game of the season, Blackburn could open up a six-point lead over third-placed Bolton by beating Jean Tigana's outfit at Ewood Park. Souness said: "I believe we have the best squad of players outside the Premiership and it is up to us to prove that to be the case. We have got ourselves into a wonderful position and the chance is clearly there for us to make the most of it."
Scottish Premier League champions Celtic will play Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday April 29th, it was announced yesterday. The league will split after this weekend's round of fixtures, with the top six sides playing each other once. Sky will show the Old Firm game live, kick-off 1.0 p.m.
Celtic's remaining fixtures - Sun April 22nd: Celtic v Hearts (18.05 p.m. , live on Sky); Sun April 29th: Rangers v Celtic (13.0 p.m. Sky); Sun May 6th: Hibernian v Celtic; Sun May 13th: Celtic v Dundee; Sun May 20th: Kilmarnock v Celtic.
