Several of Europe's bright stars will miss Wednesday's UEFA Cup first-round action through either injury or illness.

Italy's striker Francesco Totti smiles as he poses for a photographers before team practice at Coverciano in Florence, October 9, 2003. [Reuters]

AS Roma striker Francesco Totti joins teammates Marco Delvecchio and Vincenzo Montella on the sidelines as the club travels to Macedonia's Vardar Skopje in a second-leg tilt.

The capital outfit took the first leg with a resounding 4-0 victory. Totti is missing the tie as he is suffering with influenza and a high temperature.

Meanwhile, Delvecchio and Montella are suffering from hamstring injuries, while Christian Panucci has also been ruled out of the match with thigh and ankle ailments.

Roma isn't the only side aching from the loss of one of its stars through injury. Former European Footballer of the Year Michael Owen won't feature for Liverpool Wednesday against Olimpija Ljubljana as the Reds host the Slovenia side at Anfield.

Owen is out with a leg injury as Liverpool hopes to advance to the second round following a 1-1 draw on the road in the first leg.

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is confident his star striker will make a quick return.

"He'll be back with us sooner rather than later," the Reds' French boss quipped.

Michael Owen will miss Liverpool's UEFA Cup match against Olimpija Ljubljana after failing to recover from a shin injury which kept him out of England's Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey. [AFP]

Owen set a new mark as Liverpool's leading scorer in Europe when he eclipsed Ian Rush's record of 20 goals in continental play. He originally went down with the injury 10 days ago against Premiership side Arsenal.

"It's not a serious injury and Michael has a chance of being fit for the weekend," Houllier added. "Jamie Carragher, Milan Baros, Didi Hamann and Danny Murphy are all out tomorrow night as well."

Newcastle frontrunner Craig Bellamy is set to miss the Magpies second-leg battle with Dutch outfit NAC Breda. The Welshman suffered a recurrence of a knee injury. He joins midfielder Lee Bowyer on the Toon bench.

Fellow Premiership club Southampton, meanwhile, is sans several first-team players for its trip to Romania to face Steaua Bucharest.

Saints manager Gordon Strachan will be forced to choose a squad without Graeme Le Saux, Neil McCann, Matt Oakley and Marian Pahars. Chris Marsden also remains doubtful for the clash.

German side Borussia Dortmund will be missing Ahmed Madouni with a leg injury for the team's trip to Austria Wien. The former European champions will also be forced to go without Flavio Conceicao and Christoph Metzelder as the club is without nine first-team players for the second leg.

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