Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (left), Jose Manuel Pinto and Gerard Pique during a training session, in Barcelona, on Tuesday. (AFP)

Barcelona: Barcelona are hopeful Xavi Hernandez can overcome a nagging injury in time for Wednesday’s Champions League match against FC Copenhagen at Camp Nou Stadium.

Xavi continues to be bothered by tendinitis in his Achilles and says he’s not 100 per cent despite orchestrating Barcelona’s 2-1 win against Valencia on the weekend.

“I’m still feeling discomfort but I hope to get over them quickly,” the Spain midfielder said. “But the truth is I’m still in pain.”

Barcelona are also without defender Gabriel Milito as they look to rebound from a 1-1 draw at Rubin Kazan, which plays Panathinaikos in the other Group G game.

Xavi and captain Carles Puyol trained separately from the squad on Monday, when Milito sustained a muscle tear in his right leg that will sideline the Argentina defender for two weeks. With Xavi’s presence uncertain, Javier Mascherano may be asked to step up and fill the void despite a sluggish start to his Barcelona career since his off-season transfer from Liverpool.

“Xavi is a key player for this team and I won’t pretend that I’m playing just because he’s injured,” the Argentina midfielder said. “I want to help the team whenever the coach asks me to. (But) Barca have players to replace (Xavi).”

Surprise Group G leader Copenhagen — which hold a two-point lead over the Spanish champion after starting with two victories — travel to the Catalan capital full of confidence after stretching their domestic lead.

The Danish champion beat Odense 5-0 on Sunday to take a 16-point lead over second-place FC Midtjylland.

But coach Stale Solbakken cautioned his team to remain humble against the three-time champions.

Barcelona are unbeaten in six games against Danish opposition, with five victories. Meanwhile, both Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos know a victory could likely end their opponent’s chances of reaching the knockout stages.

Rubin have one point and Panathinaikos have zero from their first two games.

England striker Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United, manager Alex Ferguson said on Wednesday.

The manager said Rooney would not play in Wednesday’s Champions League match against Bursaspor because of an ankle injury. A United press officer said that Rooney was stretchered off at the end of training on Tuesday.

The English giants’ position in the pool will be strengthened further with a win against Bursaspor, which are without a point from two games and were thrashed 4-0 at Valencia in their first away match. The Turkish team have lost their last six European matches without scoring.

Veteran winger Ryan Giggs is out for United after sustaining a recurrence of a hamstring problem against West Brom, and center back Jonny Evans also missed training on Tuesday because of injury.

In the other match in the group, Valencia were looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish league on Saturday when they visit Rangers.

Inter Milan’s Samuel Eto’ has been setting the pace for his club all season and will carry even more responsibility into Wednesday’s match against Tottenham with fellow forward Diego Milito unavailable.

Eto’ has struck 16 goals in 14 appearances for club and country this season — more than anyone else in Europe — and Inter have not won, nor even scored, when the Cameroon striker has failed to find the target.

While Eto’’s performance has been commended, European champion Inter have been criticised as too dependent on the former Barcelona forward.

Inter and Tottenham share the lead in Group A with four points each. Tottenham are also missing a key player, with Rafael van der Vaart suspended for his red card in last month’s 4-1 victory over FC Twente, robbing Spurs of a player who is rapidly becoming very important.

Van der Vaart has scored four times since joining from Real Madrid in August, with Tottenham’s first goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Fulham the most recent he has set up for teammates. (Agencies)

Wednesday’s matches

Group A: Inter Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur, Twente Enschede vs Werder Bremen; Group B: Lyon vs Benfica, Schalke 04 vs Hapoel Tel Aviv; Group C: Manchester United vs Bursaspor, Rangers vs Valencia; Group D: Barcelona vs FC Copenhagen, Panathinaikos vs FK Rubin Kazan