UEFA Champions League: Leverkusen baptism for newcomer David Moyes

United manager eager to prove his mettle in Europe.

MANCHESTER: David Moyes will sample the Champions League group phase for the first time today when his Manchester United side host Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Group A fixture.

“I am really excited to be involved in it,” Moyes told MUTV. “I have been in the Champions League before but I have not made the group stage. We will do our homework to make sure we are as prepared as we can be.”

United are the only genuine European heavyweights in the group, but with Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad making up the pool, there is not a weak team in Group A either.

It is 11 years since Leverkusen stunned United in the Champions League semi-finals, before losing to Real Madrid in the final. Today’s game will mark United’s first European fixture without Ferguson in the dug-out since a quarter-final defeat in the UEFA Cup in March 1985.

Guardiola leads lacklustre Bayern into Europe

Pep Guardiola makes his Champions League debut as Bayern Munich coach at home to CSKA Moscow with the Bavarian giants underperforming, according to sports director Matthias Sammer.

“We’re playing lethargic football, we’re just going through the motions, we have to get out of this comfort zone,” said Sammer.

After becoming the first German team to win the treble under Jupp Heynckes last season, Bayern have failed to dominate so far this season under Guardiola. Certainly a convincing win over the Russian Premier League champions at Munich’s Allianz Arena will help calm Sammer’s fears.

Bayern are without injured central midfielders Mario Goetze and Thiago Alcantara, while Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to feature.

PSG open quest against in-form Olympiakos

After guiding Paris Saint-Germain to an unbeaten five-match start to their domestic season, coach Laurent Blanc gets a second crack at a Champions League campaign in which significant success is expected.

After three wins and two draws in five league outings, PSG travel to Athens for the opening round of group matches where they face a stiff challenge against Greek champions Olympiakos.

A good result in the capital will put them in good stead amongst a pool that also includes Europa League finalists Benfica and Belgian champions Anderlecht.

While PSG come into the match as slight favourites, the Greeks cannot be underestimated and have a fine record at their Karaiskakis stadium. Their coach Michel is looking to take the team past their best run of reaching the quarter-finals.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2013.

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