Hamburg  - Two-time UEFA Cup champions Tottenham Hotspur are one of several big names fighting for a place in the Round of 32 knockout round of the competition as the group stage reaches its climax on Wednesday and Thursday.

With nine places still up for grabs, it will be a tense time for Spurs along with the likes of the Spanish trio of Sevilla, Deportivo La Coruna and Racing Santander, Italy's Sampdoria or Greece's Olympiakos.

Meanwhile, some of Germany's contingent are in trouble. Hertha Berlin need a victory, a draw may not be good enough for VfB Stuttgart, while Schalke 04 must hope rivals fail to win their games.

Elsewhere, former European champions SV Hamburg and Aston Villa are up against each other, while 2007 Champions League winners AC Milan entertain Germany's Wolfsburg in matches between already-qualified teams vying to win their groups.

The group matches on Thursday are the tightest, none more so than Group D where Tottenham need a point at home to Spartak Moscow to make sure of qualifying along with Italy's Udinese.

However Spartak and Dutch side Nijmegen - at home to Udinese - are still in the running, and even bottom club Dinamo Zagreb, who have played all their games, have a theoretical chance.

Tottenham have injury problems, with midfielder Jermaine Jenas tearing a calf muscle in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Manchester United, while central defender Jonathan Woodgate (back) is sidelined and captain Ledley King, who has chronic knee problems, won't be used.

The 1972 and 1984 UEFA Cup winners also have Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko cup-tied, while Adel Taarabt, Ricardo Rocha, Hossam Ghaly, Paul Stalteri and Kevin-Prince Boateng were not registered for European competition by former manager Juande Ramos.

"Every manager says their squad is stretched but if I hadn't brought the five back that were cast aside when I came here, we'd be desperate," said manager Harry Redknapp.

"Those five aren't in the UEFA Cup squad so I've got kids out of the youth team because you have to have so many homegrown players in your squad."

In one of the day's top games, Spain's Sevilla face a tough trip to Sampdoria knowing a defeat could lead to exit from Group C, while Stuttgart need a win at home to already-qualified Standard Liege to guarantee progress.

In Group B, Olympiakos will go through behind Galatasaray and Metalist Kharkiv if they beat visiting Hertha Berlin, and a draw will also probably be enough. For the Germans, only a win will do.

Group A sees both Paris St Germain and Racing Santander with home matches in a neck-and-neck race to overtake Schalke for third spot in the group behind already-qualified Manchester City and Twente.

Racing greet Twente while Paris St Germain entertain Manchester City, while Schalke can only hope both fail to win.

In Wednesday's matches, Deportivo face Nancy in Group H where both sides will advance if Poland's Lech Poznan do not win at Feyenoord.

Group G sees Brugge and Copenhagen up against each other in the fight to progress along with already-qualified St Etienne and Valencia. A point will do for the Belgians while Copenhagen must win.

Groups E and F are now down to battles for top spots. Finishing top will provide a bonus in Friday's draw for the next round.

Group winners will be paired with third-placed sides from other groups, while runners-up will be drawn against one of the eight sides who finished third in the Champions League groups. Group winners and runners-up will also play their second-leg matches at home.

AC Milan are likely to field some reserves for the Group E visit of Wolfsburg for whom the big-name opponent is something special for the modest Bundesliga club.

A draw will be enough for Felix Magath's side to win the group, but the coach said: "We want to measure ourselves against a top team and annoy them a little bit."

A three-way fight to win Group F sees SV Hamburg take on Aston Villa, while Dutch side Ajax - also already qualified and level on six points - are at home to Slavia Prague.

Hamburg coach Martin Jol won't be taking any chances on players carrying knocks but said he wanted to win the game to avoid meeting a team from the Champions League in the next round.

"It won't be a friendly game," he said. (dpa)