Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is hopeful Fernando Torres and Alvaro Arbeloa will be in contention for a return in the Champions League meeting against Real Madrid.

Both players are desperate to make the clash - Arbeloa to face his former employers, and Torres to try and get one over on his old rivals from his Atletico Madrid days.

Torres sustained an ankle injury in Liverpool’s 1-0 in the first leg at the Bernabeu and Arbeloa has a hamstring problem. Benitez, though, has moved to declare the pair as possible inclusions for the second leg tie with the Spanish giants.

"Fernando is improving but it's still too soon to say if he'll be fit," the Reds boss told the club's official website. "He is working hard with the physios and we now have two or three more training sessions before we have to make a decision.

"I think he can be close but each player is different. We just have to wait and see.

"Arbeloa is much the same as Torres and we will try to push him harder over the next couple of days."

One player less likely to return, but still in with a slim chance of making the Madrid tie is defender Daniel Agger, who has been suffering from back problems.

Benitez added: "It will be harder for Agger but he too is working hard with the physios. All three could be close."