Dugout kingpins enter the Champions League fray
ago. The Swiss then made them pay heavily with a 4-0 win at St JakobPark two weeks later, and Basel have lost just three of their 19 home European games since the start of 2013-14.
Ludogorets striker Claudiu Keseru, who has scored in his last three games for the club, has overcome a broken cheekbone but will play the game in a mask.
Dynamo Kiev (Ukr) v Napoli (Ita)
Ukraine champions Kiev, in their 16th group stage appearance, made it to the last 16 in 2015-2016, where they met their match in Manchester City. Serie A runnersup Napoli warmed up for their third group stage campaign with an emphatic 3-0 win at Palermo, Jose Callejon netting a double. They failed to make it into the knockout stages in 2013-2014, their last appearance, despite collecting 12 points. Gonzalo Higuain, who scored 36 of last season’s 80goal haul, left in the summer to champions Juventus. Dynamo, held 1-1 by Shakhtar Donetsk in the league at the weekend, have won six of their eight matches in all competitions this term. Benfica (Por) v Besiktas (Tur) Benfica were beaten by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals last season while Turkish champions Besiktas will be trying to make it out of the group stages for the first time at the sixth attempt as they return to the competition for the first time since 2009-2010. Benfica’s top scorer last season, Brazilian striker Jonas, is recovering from a right foot injury that has kept him sidelined since August. Cenk Tosun is in good form, netting four times for Besiktas in his last three games. Brazilian left-back Adriano missed Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Konyaspor.
Barcelona (Sp) v Celtic (Scot)
Celtic face a formidable task as they travel to five-time winners Barcelona, where the Scottish champions suffered their joint-heaviest European defeat – losing 6-1 at the Nou Camp in their last group stage participation in 2013. Despite failing to win their 14 previous trips to play Liga rivals, new manager Brendan Rodgers has been boosted by a perfect start to the season and an emphatic 5-1 win against Old Firm rivals Rangers on Saturday. Spanish champions Barcelona, who last won European’s premier club competition in 2015, won all five home fixtures in last season’s campaign, reaching the quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Atletico Madrid. But Luis Enrique’s side are reeling after a shock home defeat to newly-promoted Alaves in La Liga after starting Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on the bench. Enrique is expected to revert back to his strongest lineup for Celtic’s visit. “We lacked a spark, we lacked a lot of things,” said midfielder Sergio Busquets. “Now we have to think about Celtic because the season rolls on.”
Manchester City (Eng) Moenchengladbach (Ger)
Guardiola’s first Champions League fixture as Manchester City manager will be against a club he knows well in German side Borussia Moenchengladbach. The clubs met in the group stage last season with City winning home and away to reach the semifinals for the first time before falling 1-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid. City maintained their 100% start to the season under Guardiola with a sixth successive victory in a 2-1 derby win at Manchester United. But the Spaniard, who has never failed to make the semifinals in his seven previous seasons, winning the competition v Borussia twice with group rivals Barcelona, believes they will have to up their game if they want to aspire to European greatness. “Until now, in the Premier League it has been okay – but to compete against the best clubs in Europe, in this moment with the way we are playing, we are not able to.” Moenchengladbach, who finished fourth in the Bundesliga, returned to Europe’s elite competition for the first time in 37 years last season. They suffered their first reverse of the season in Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Freiburg.
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven (Ned) v Atletico Madrid (Sp)
Last season’s beaten finalists Atletico Madrid take on familiar foes PSV Eindhoven against whom they needed a quarterfinals penalty shootout win (8-7) after drawing 0-0 both away and then at home. Dutch coach Philippe Cocu was a slick defender in his playing days and his PSV team and their keeper Jeroen Zoet have kept a clean sheet for 424 minutes during their ongoing six-match unbeaten run. So Atletico will do extremely well to get an away result. Euro 2016 top scorer Antoine Griezmann scored twice and made an assist as Atletico routed Celta Vigo 4-0 at the weekend, but it was their first win for them of this La Liga campaign after two limp draws. Diego Simeone’s highly motivated and tight-knit side face a two window transfer ban, but new signing Kevin Gameiro is settling in nicely ahead of Koke, Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco. The hosts won all three of their group stage home ties last season seeing off Wolfsburg, CSKA Moscow and Manchester United. Bayern Munich (Ger) v Rostov (Rus) This is Carlo Ancelotti’s Champions League bow with Bayern Munich, who brought in the affable Italian with his continental pedigree foremost in their minds after his success at AC Milan in 2003 and 2007 and at Real Madrid in 2014. Guardiola’s team cruised through the group phase last season and were eventually beaten on away goals by Atletico. But today’s visitors, Russian newcomers Rostov, can only have a deep sense of foreboding as they travel to Munich for their Champions League group phase debut. Polish centre-forward Robert Lewandowski scored in Bayern’s 2-0 weekend defeat of Schalke and hammered three past Werder Bremen in their Bundesliga opener. He’s scored eight in his last four outings. Rostov may be no pushovers, however, with a tight defensive record in Russia and having negotiated their way past Anderlecht and Ajax in the qualifying rounds. — AFP