Barcelona begin title defence against Roma

ROME — AS Roma supporters may be looking ahead to Barcelona’s Champions League visit with some trepidation and coach Rudi Garcia certainly does not seem to be bursting with optimism.

Roma have finished second in Serie A for the last two seasons but still there is still a clear gap between themselves and Europe’s top clubs, despite the addition of Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah.

Barcelona’s visit to the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday, which kicks off their Champions League title defence, comes just under a year after Roma lost 7-1 at home to Bayern Munich in the same competition.

The Bavarians sliced through the Roma defence almost at will as they scored five goals in a bewildering half hour spell in the first half.

Roma went on to finish third in the group after taking one point in two games off Manchester City, while domestically they have come up short in matches against Juventus, with three defeats in their last four league meetings,

With that in mind, Garcia has already made it clear that he would be happy to finish second in a group that also includes Champions League regulars Bayer Leverkusen and Belarus champions BATE Borisov.

“The target in the Champions League is to get past the group stage and to the Round of 16,” Garcia said in an interview last week with Radio Monte Carlo. “Behind Barcelona, it is an open group.”

There was just a hint of optimism when he said: “Everybody is convinced that they will get 18 points, so that implies getting six off us, but sometimes miracles happen in football.

“We’ve got nothing to lose and we’ve got to do all we can to upset the odds.”

The match takes Barcelona coach Luis Enrique back to the club where he spent an unimpressive season in 2011/12, when Roma were clearly in transition.

The two sides last met 13 years ago, again in the Champions League second group stage, when they drew 1-1 in Barcelona and Roma won the return 3-0 with Luis Enrique in the Barcelona side.

Incredibly, there is one playing survivor from those games — Roma playmaker Francesco Totti who will turn 39 at the end of the month.

“I want to win at least one title with my captain, Francesco Totti,” said Garcia. “I don’t know if Totti or the Pope are more important in Rome, but I can certainly say that for Francesco, the Roma shirt is like a second stint.

“He’s an extraordinary player, on and off the field, and we are just pacing him in training, but he never asks for any special favours.”

German champions Bayern Munich will be stepping on the gas against Olympiakos in their Champions League group stage opener in Piraeus on Wednesday, hoping to kick off their European campaign with a performance worthy of a title contender.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, in his third season in charge and still chasing his first European crown with the Germans, was unhappy with his team’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, pledging for a quicker, more focused game against the Greek champions.

The Bavarians needed an 90th minute penalty from Thomas Mueller, a controversial decision that referee Knut Kircher admitted later was a mistake, to edge past their opponents and maintain a perfect start to the season.

“We cannot allow that to happen,” said forward Robert Lewandowski. “It will not be an easy game in Greece and the atmosphere there is fiery. We have to play very well from the start and not from the 46th minute as we did against Augsburg.

“We need to step more on the gas,” the Polish striker said, with Bayern also due to play Dinamo Zagreb and Arsenal in Group F.

Bayern, who won the last of their five European Cups in 2013, will be without wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

Douglas Costa, in fine form since joining them in the close season, is again expected to start on the left, with teenager Kingsley Coman also an option after the talented Frenchman came on as a substitute for his Bayern debut against Augsburg.

Central defenders Medhi Benatia and Holger Badstuber will also miss the game through injury with Javi Martinez likely to be included in the squad after recovering from a year-long ligament injury.

The Spanish holding midfielder was an unused substitute against Augsburg.

“We should learn our lessons from the Augsburg match because that should not happen,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm. “We need to be able to turn on the switch.”

Bayern’s big name absences mean little for Olympiakos, who are well aware of the monumental task ahead.

“I do not think we should talk too much about the players missing because it makes no difference. There is so much quality in their squad,” said Olympiakos defender Omar Elabdellaoui.

The Greek titleholders, who have won their last six home fixtures in the Champions League, have also reinforced their squad, bringing in experienced former Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.

They are also on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back to April, which also included three wins out of three games in the Greek league this season.

“We need to focus on our work. We believe we can get something out of it because if you don’t believe then you have already lost even before the game,” said Elabdellaoui.

Out-of-sorts Chelsea have a golden opportunity to restore battered self-confidence when they face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their opening Champions League Group G match on Wednesday.

The Premier League champions slumped to their fourth defeat in six games when they lost 3-1 at Everton on Saturday.

Manager Jose Mourinho said he was under no pressure after the match but, according to media reports, he swore at Everton counterpart Roberto Martinez after being made to wait for his post-match news conference.

Earlier, Mourinho admitted the poor run of results were the worst of his career, but added he was the man to lead Chelsea out of their hole.