Reuters Sports Schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday, March 12

Reuters

Reuters sports schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday: - - - - SOCCER Champions League last 16 second legs (1945) Barcelona v Manchester City Paris St Germain v Bayer Leverkusen - - Barca on brink of seventh straight quarter-final spot BARCELONA - Barcelona have a 2-0 lead over Manchester City from the first leg as the Spanish champions seek a place in the last eight of Europe's elite club competition for the seventh season in a row. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/BARCELONA (PIX), expect by 2145 GMT/4:45 PM ET, by Tim Hanlon, 500 words) - - Leverkusen aim to fight to the end against dominant PSG PARIS - Bayer Leverkusen will resist the option of fielding a second-string team despite taking an almost insurmountable 4-0 deficit to an in-form Paris St Germain for their Champions League last 16 second leg. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/PSG (PIX), expect by 2145 GMT/4:45 PM ET, by Julien Pretot, 600 words) - - - - MOTOR RACING Australian Formula One Grand Prix Mercedes favourites to start the season with a win MELBOURNE - World champion Sebastian Vettel's hopes of a 10th straight win for Red Bull have faded with Mercedes starting Formula One's new V6 turbo era as favourites. With reliability a concern for all, how many cars will finish on Sunday remains an open question. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/PREVIEW (PIX), expect by 1100 GMT/ 6 AM ET, 600 words). We will also move a drivers' form sheet and statistics for the race at Albert Park. - - - - South Africa v Australia, Durban, second T20I South Africa and Australia try again after wash out South Africa and Australia meet in the second match of the three-game series, after the first game was washed out without a ball being bowled on Sunday, as they warm up for this month's World Twenty20. (CRICKET-AUSTRALIA/, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS ATP/WTA: Indian Wells, California, U.S. (to 16) Federer and Murray face tricky opponents at Indian Wells Roger Federer meets Tommy Haas and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray faces big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the fourth round while former world number one Jelena Jankovic looks for a place in the women's semi-finals. (TENNIS-INDIAN/, expect from 2300 GMT/7 PM ET, 500 words) - - - - NBA Nets try to beat the Heat for third time this season The Brooklyn Nets, who boast the Eastern Conference`s best record in 2014, look to defeat the defending champion Miami Heat for a third consecutive time this season in one of 11 games on the NBA schedule. (NBA-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 900 words) - - - - NHL Bruins visit Canadians for Original Six matchup The Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins visit the Montreal Canadiens for an Original Six matchup and the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks visit the Colorado Avalanche in two of the four games on the schedule. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 450 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (expect by 0001 GMT/8:01 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - HORSE RACING Cheltenham Festival (to 14) Copy on merit - - - - ALPINE SKIING World Cup: End-of-season meeting, Lenzerheide, Switzerland (to 16) Men's and women's downhill Copy on merit - - - - CYCLING Tirreno-Adriatico, Italy (to 18) Copy on merit - - - - (London duty editor: Ken Ferris)