Madrid  - Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben will be out of action for around six weeks, the Spanish champions said Thursday.

The Dutch wideman tore fibres in his right calf while warming up for Wednesday's Champions League clash on Wednesday.

Real coach Bernd Schuster had to play Royston Drenthe down the left instead of Robben - and suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat.

Juventus are now four points ahead of Real in Group H, and Zenit St Petersburg are only two points behind the Spaniards.

Hamburg- Leaders Hoffenheim will be looking to continue their remarkable series when they travel to Hertha Berlin on Sunday, but the top game of the weekend takes place the same day in Gelsenkirchen where Schalke 04 take on champions Bayern Munich.

Hoffenheim extended their winning run to five game by thrashing Karlsruhe 4-1 last Saturday, with the Bosnia striker Vedad Ibisevic taking his goal tally to a spectacular 13 from 11 games.

The promoted side, who have scored 25 goals in their last seven league games, now face a tough proposition in seventh-place Hertha whose strong recent form was somewhat tarnished with a 5-1 defeat at Werder Bremen last weekend.

Milan - Their standing in the Serie A may not show it clearly, but champions Inter Milan are facing some unexpected problems in a defence package that was crucial for them in the successes of the past seasons.

The five goals conceded in the last two games, a 3-2 win over tail-enders Reggina and a 3-3 draw at Cypriot side Anorthosis, sent bad signals that president Massimo Moratti did not fail to point out.

"There must be something to adjust," he said. "It's partly a psychological problem and a matter of mistakes. They make them, and if you make mistakes, you concede goals."

London - Liverpool will be hoping to regain top spot from Chelsea, for 24 hours at least, this weekend when they take on West Bromwich Albion in the latest round of fixtures in the English Premier League.

Rafael Benitez's side suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend when they went down 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur and laboured to a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.

But with Chelsea, who lead the table from Liverpool on goal difference, not in action until Sunday, the Anfield side know that three points will restore their place at the top and continue their impressive start to the season.

Madrid - Spanish champions Real Madrid announced Wednesday afternoon that defender Pepe would miss that night's Champions League home game with Juventus.

The Portuguese defender failed a late fitness test after pulling the quadriceps muscle in his left thigh in Sunday's 1-1 draw in an away game with Almeria. He has still not properly recovered.

Real coach Bernd Schuster will now have to decide whether to bring

in German central defender Christoph Metzelder, as he did against Almeria, or play Gabriel Heinze in the centre alongside Fabio Cannavaro. He would then put Marcelo at left-back instead of Heinze.

Hamburg - Tottenham Hotspur hope to carry their rising Premier League form into the UEFA Cup on Thursday while Aston Villa seek a second win and Manchester City seek a good start into the competition.

Spurs were humbled 2-0 at Udinese in their opening group D match two weeks ago but now hope to rise from last place with a victory against Dinamo Zagreb.

City, who were idle on the first group match day, are at home as well, against Dutch side Twente Enschede in group A. Villa visit Slavia Prague after defeating former winners Ajax Amsterdam in their group F opener.