Man United , Chelsea, Arsenal all face battles to reach Champions League knockouts

Berlin: Premier League trio Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal face last-matchday battles to stay in the Champions League as the group stage reaches its climax on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Seven places in the knock-out stage are still up for grabs, and four former European champions - United, Chelsea, Porto and PSV Eindhoven - are among the teams still scrambling to reach the last 16.

Seven other clubs have hopes of earning a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.

United, Chelsea, Porto and PSV are joined by Wolfsburg, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, BATE Borisov, Olympiakos,Arsenal, Dynamo Kiev, Gent and Valencia seeking to progress.

Already qualified are defending champions Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburgh.

Among the key duels, Bundesliga side Wolfsburg take on Louis van Gaal's United Tuesday in an tightly poised Group B, while PSV host CSKA Moscow.

Wolfsburg will be through with a draw and will clinch first place with a win, while United will win the group with a victory. PSV are also through if they win and could progress with a draw if United lose. CSKA meanwhile are in contention for a Europa League place fro which third place is needed.

Bastian Schweinsteiger will be back in a German stadium for the first time in a United shirt, and lost 4-1 in his last game in Wolfsburg, in January with Bayern Munich.

"It is a very important match for us and I know how difficult it is at Wolfsburg," he said. "It is not easy. We have to find the right tactic and I am sure the team will be ready for the big night."

Arsenal face the biggest hurdle of the three English clubs looking to join City in the knockout stages.

A 3-2 home loss to Olympiakos in September has left the Gunners needing to win in Greece by a score other than 1-0 or 2-1 to progress to the knockout stage for the 16th straight year.

"There is one positive thing for us, we know exactly what we have to do," manager Arsene Wenger told the club's website. "We know that we have to go for it from the start.

"So let's do that and hopefully we can get through."

Chelsea look to rebound from another Premier League loss when they host Porto in Group G needing only a draw to go through. Failure is certain to pile the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho.

Dynamo Kiev will meanwhile go through if they beat visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv whatever the outcome of the Chelsea-Porto match. Porto will top the group with a win and also a draw if Dynamo do not win - but a draw will leave them third if Dynamo take all three points.

Real Madrid will be trying to continue their resurgence Tuesday in a Group A meeting at home to bottom team Malmo.

The whites have already clinched top spot in the group, so the game is another opportunity to placate the Estadio Bernabeu and to give a rare start to youngsters like Nacho, Lucas Vazquez, Martin Odegaard and Jese.

Atletico Madrid travel Tuesday to Portugal to face Benfica in a clash to decide top spot in Group C. Atletico need to win in Lisbon by at least a 2-1 margin, given that they lost 2-1 at home to the Portuguese side.

Sevilla will be trying to finish their poor Group D campaign on a high note at home to leaders Juventus Tuesday. Unai Emery's side need a victory to have a chance of snatching third place from Borussia Moenchangladbach, who are two points above them and travel to City.

Juve are meanwhile hoping to clinch top spot in the group ahead of City.

"Finishing top of the standings could give us a favourable draw in the first knockout round and for that reason we have to come back with a positive result on Tuesday night," defender Leonardo Bonucci said.

Barcelona travel to Bayer Leverkusen in Group E Wednesday having already won the group. Roma lead Leverkusen on the head-to-head record and therefore need to defeat visiting BATE Borisov to make sure of second place.

In Group H Wednesday, Valencia must beat bottom team Lyon, with Gary Neville making his debut on the bench, and hope Gent - at home to Zenit - do not.

"Wednesday's match is going to be the game of our lives," Valencia midfielder Danilo Barbosa said.