Aguero to miss Juve clash
THE Champions League gets under way tonight and tomorrow with the first matches of the group stage.
Champions Barcelona and Spanish rivals Real Madrid are again among the favourites, while Premier League clubs are desperate for a stronger challenge this time around.
Manchester United return to the Champions League after a year’s absence, while local rivals Manchester City are determined to make a bigger mark on the competition after years of disappointment.
The English Premier League, with Chelsea and Arsenal also challenging, will be hoping for a far stronger showing than in recent years – in two of the past three seasons England has failed to produce a single quarter-finalist.
Another lacklustre performance could see England dropping down the Uefa coefficient ranking and the bigspending Premier League losing a starting place.
The first match day of the group stage sees defending champions Barcelona travel to Roma, while Spanish rivals Real Madrid greet Shakhtar Donetsk tonight.
Tomorrow German champions Bayern Munich are at Olympiakos, while Premier League champions Chelsea – the last English Champions League winner in 2012 and semi-finalists last year – have to shrug off a poor start to the domestic season when they take on Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge.
“We have to win, for our own confidence and for the fans,” said Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic.
Barcelona, who beat Juventus 3-1 in last season’s final in Berlin, were boosted by Lionel Messi’s late winner over Atletico Madrid on Saturday as they head to Roma for their first Group E match.
Barca are without injury victims keeper Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves, Douglas and Thomas Vermaelen, but Gerard Pique is back in defence after a four-match ban in La Liga.
“It is important that we make a good start, because this could turn out to be a difficult group,” Pique said of a group also featuring Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov.
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Real Madrid are also in fine fettle after a 6-0 trouncing of Espanyol, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging five, before their Group A meeting with Shakhtar. Highly fancied Paris Saint-Germain greet Sweden’s Malmo in the other group game.
Back in Europe, Manchester United will be without Wayne Rooney for the Group B match at PSV Eindhoven.
Rooney missed Saturday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool after picking up an injury in training.
It will be a homecoming for winger Memphis Depay, who left PSV for United, and former PSV coach Aad de Mos expects him to have a tough time.
“Depay is not going to get one bit of joy out of his return to Holland,” De Mos said.
“Santiago Arias, the Mexican international defender who knows him inside out, is going to eat him raw.”
Sergio Aguero will miss City’s opening Champions League game against Juventus tonight because of a knee injury, but David Silva and Raheem Sterling are fit to take part.
Argentina striker Aguero limped off in the first half of their 1-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace on Saturday as City maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
Silva, who has recovered from an ankle problem, and Sterling, who had a hamstring complaint, are available after missing out against Palace, while Samir Nasri and Fernandinho could also feature.
City will also be without Fabian Delph (hamstring), Pablo Zabaleta (knee) and Gael Clichy (ankle).
Juventus are struggling through a major transition and hope to switch gears after getting a single point from the three opening Serie A games.
Arsenal face a tricky trip to Dinamo Zagreb in Group F.
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has warned his players against any complacency for the trip to Olympiakos in Arsenal’s group.
“Everybody will have to be 100% at their best, otherwise it could all go wrong,” he said.
Germany’s challenge also includes Wolfsburg taking on CSKA Moscow tonight in Manchester United’s group, while Borussia Moen-chengladbach, who have started the Bundesliga with four consecutive defeats, are at Europa League winners Sevilla – also a poor starter in the league – in the group featuring City and Juventus. – dpa