CHELSEA LOOK FOR SOLACE IN EUROPE

Chelsea will host Maccabi Tel Aviv in its Champions League Group G opener on Wednesday, needing a win to take some pressure off manager Jose Mourinho.

The Blues have lost three of its opening five games — the latest a 3-1 loss to Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday — and is languishing in 17th spot in the domestic competition.

Only four months ago, he was lifting the Premier League title at Stamford Bridge for the third time as Chelsea cruised to its fourth championship, eight points ahead of runner-up Manchester City. Now, the Blues already trail Manuel Pellegrini’s side by 11.

Owner Roman Abramovich runs the club discreetly but he is impatient for success and a dispute with Mourinho was a factor in his departure the first time around in 2007.

So when the Blues take on the Israeli club,  Chelsea is expected to win comfortably and anything other than an assured display will only heighten the pressure on Mourinho.

Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas were cornerstones of Chelsea’s premier league-winning team but their low performance levels so far this season have been a contributing factor to the club’s woeful start.

Mourinho could be tempted to rotate his team, with Loic Remy in attack and Brazil international Oscar pushing to replace Hazard. With a clash against fierce London rival Arsenal on Saturday, it is important for Chelsea to quickly return to winning ways.

Porto, which Mourinho led to the Champions League title in 2004, take on and Dynamo Kiev in other group game.

Iker Casillas has played 152 games in Europe’s top club competition in a Real Madrid shirt. His 153rd appearance will be in FC Porto’s colors.

The 34-year-old Spain goalkeepermoved to Portugal in the summer. He has conceded two goals in four Portuguese league games so far and Porto shares top spot. However Porto’s coach Julen Lopetegui will serve a touchline ban when they travel to the Ukrainian capital.

Barca travel to Rome

ROME: When Lionel Messi and Barcelona open their Champions League title defense at Roma on Wednesday, the Giallorossi will be eager to show they can no longer be pushed around by European powers.

“Barcelona is an immense club, the defending champion, they’ve won their first three Liga matches, but there’s no point in saying great things about this squad,” Roma coach Rudi Garcia said.

Roma has had a strong start to Serie A, beating last season’s Champions League runner-up Juventus 2-1, and showing strong potential with an impressive array of new players in Edin Dzeko, Iago Falque, Mohamed Salah, and Wojciech Szczesny. But Garcia will be without key playmaker Miralem Pjanic due to a right calf strain.

Bayer Leverkusen hosts BATE Borisov in the other Group E match.

Lionel Messi is set to make his 100th appearance in the Champions League and look to add to his record 77 goals in the competition — a mark he shares with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona is without Dani Alves.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich begins the quest for its sixth European Cup at Olympiakos on Wednesday, while Arsenal opens its 18th successive Champions League campaign at Dinamo Zagreb.

Dinamo, back in the competition after a two-year absence, is on a 41-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. The Croatian champion has never previously qualified from the group stage in four previous attempts.

Bayern, the 2013 champion, is also hoping to go at least one stage further after semifinal exits the past two seasons.

Pep Guardiola’s tenure as Bayern coach will be judged on success in Europe this season, likely his last with the Bavarian club.

After taking over Jupp Heynckes’ treble winning side in 2013, Guardiola has enjoyed overwhelming Bundesliga success while crashing out in successive seasons to eventual champions in the Champions League semifinals. Last May’s 5-3 aggregate loss to Barcelona was at least an improvement on the 5-0 defeat to Real Madrid the previous year.

Now in the final year of his contract, with no indication yet of whether he will extend, Guardiola is under pressure to lead Bayern to its sixth European title in his third attempt.

Wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are ruled out through injury, while attacking midfielder Mario Goetze should have overcome a muscle strain that kept him out of action Saturday.

ARSENAL’S STRIKING ISSUE

London: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger came under intense scrutiny from the English media for not signing a striker in the summer transfer window, with doubts about Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud’s ability to consistently deliver at the highest level and Danny Welbeck out until Christmas with a knee injury.

But Walcott and Giroud vindicated Wenger on Saturday, each finding the back of the net against Stoke to lead Arsenal to a 2-0 win, its first at home this season.

Bayern Munich puzzle over Guardiola, Robben and Ribery

BERLIN, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- While Bayern Munich won their curtain raiser in this season' s Champions League at Greek champions Olympiacos Piraeus 3-0 (0-0) with a Thomas Mueller brace (30st goal in the Champions League) and a Mario Goetze strike, fans around the world are discussing the future of their favorite club and its protagonists.

It is not only the uncertainties surrounding Bayern coach Pep Guardiola that is keeping the fans' minds busy but also the future of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Both missed Bayern' s Group F opener due to injury.

Replacing them this time was no problem. Bayern was in complete control despite failing to score in the first half and their problems with a strong Piraeus defense. Starting with a 3-4-3 system, Bayern dominated throughout and remained patient and fully deserved to wrap up their first three points by scoring three goals after half time.

"It was not an easy game as Piraeus is a strong side at home. Last year they have beaten teams like Manchester and Juventus. We had a hard time in the beginning, but managed to win in the end, which is a message too," Mueller said.

However a team like Piraeus isn' t the biggest challenge anyway for the Germans, who won their 12th Champions League opener. The coach and two key figures are the top topic right now. Some fans hope that when Guardiola decides to leave, it might at least have a positive effect on the team and club in that it unite them even more to serve up a happy end.

According to rumors, Bayern are working on the topic of a new coach with great intensity. So they won' t be helpless when the 44-year-old Spaniard announces his departure after three years, which is what most pundits are expecting. Guardiola keeps his future to himself and does not earn applause from everybody but Bayern' s officials are keeping silent because they want everybody to concentrate on the fourth consecutive German title and more importantly on the Champions League. To win the most important club competition is no less important for Guardiola himself as it would turn his era in Germany into an excellent one.

Only Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer has uttered any form of criticism. "You can' t shape a squad in accordance with his wishes and then he tells you at Christmas that he' s leaving," said the 1974 (as a player) and 1990 (as a coach) World Cup winner. "The best thing would be for Guardiola to announce that he is staying at Bayern. It would make things much easier," continued Beckenbauer sounding ironically optimistic without being able to deliver any new hard facts.

As things look like at the moment, the club' s management have accepted that Guardiola will set sail to new shores after this season, and until then, are happy about their coach' s intense ambitions to win the Champions League final in Milan in May 2016.

Former Bayern player Dietmar Hamann told the pay TV channel "sky" that Guardiola must be regarded as a special coach by Bayern. "They have been beaten badly twice in the Champions League. I don' t know if any other coach would have survived that. You can lose to Barca and Real but the naive way Bayern did was a shock to me," said Hamann.

If Guardiola leaves, his successor (and Bayern Munich) will not only have to deliver new titles but he will have to see in a new era or see out the last years of the present one. German media is already starting to talk about the end of the era for Franck Ribery (32) and Arjen Robben (31). Both had missed as well the semifinal last season against FC Barcelona (5-3 on aggregate).

In order not to be left "alone" again, Bayern' s bosses ironed out their error not to have a solution in place for the worst case and bought Brazilian Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk) and Frenchman Kingsley Coman (Juventus) to replace the aging stars down the flanks, should the two be unavailable.

"It is a general policy of the club to have quick men on the wings," said Bayern Director of Football Matthias Sammer. "We have to take care that we have a smooth transfer into the era after them," added Sammer.

How important Costa and Coman can be the duet showed in Piraeus. Over 45 percent of Bayern's attacks came over Costa and Coman delivered two assists.

The prognosis in Robben' s case is that he will be out of the game for a further three weeks. As for Ribery, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said he is expecting the player to return by the end of 2015 at the latest. The French striker has been sidelined with an ankle injury since March 2015. Both Robben and Ribery have contracts until 2017 and are obviously raring to make a comeback.

Robben answered with a broad smile when asked about the end of the era of "Robbery" (Robben and Ribery). "Until we see the post-Robben era it will hopefully still take a while. It' s always a good idea to look ahead, to recognize the time when you start to wane. But I can assure you until then it will take a while in my case," said Robben. And Ribery told reporters: "When I' m fit again, I don' t have to be afraid of any new face in our squad."

Franck Ribery's brother scores a screamer from the tightest of angles - Franck must be proud

Young Steeven Ribery scored this unbelievable goal for Bayern Munich II - he'll be playing with the first team before long, surely.

It can't be easy being Franck Ribery's brother. The Bayern Munich star and former Ballon d'Or candidate is one of the world's most decorated players - a genuine icon for his club.

Happily, younger sibling Steeven Ribery doesn't seem too fazed. The 19-year-old winger has scored a goal for Bayern's reserves which any player in the world would be happy with - it's an absolute beauty.

Playing in his side's Regionalliga game against Bayreuth, Steeven picked up the ball to the right of the opposition box. As he charged toward the by-line, the angle to goal narrowed to an almost impossible degree.

Almost impossible. Despite the difficulty, the young Ribery sent a majestic shot soaring over the keeper and into the top corner - totally stunning the crowd in the process.

Franck Ribery injury improving - Bayern Munich's Matthias Sammer

Bayern Munich have played down suggestions Franck Ribery will not return to action before 2016.

Ribery, 32, has been sidelined with ankle problems since March and, while he has been able to do some fitness work, Bayern have not yet been able to set a timeframe for his return to the pitch.

The former France winger told kicker last week: "I do everything, really everything, that I am told, but the pain just won't go away."

However, Bayern sporting executive Matthias Sammer has told Bild that the club had no particular reason to believe Ribery would miss the rest of 2015.

"I don't know who says things like that," Sammer said. "What is accurate is that there is an uptrend, an improvement. We are working on it, but it's dubious to give a date for a comeback. The ankle injury is too complex for that."

Bild reported that Ribery is suffering with periostitis and that he still cannot run.

Sammer said that Ribery "is not happy right now" but is doing all he can to return to fitness.

"Our job is to support him to the best of our abilities," he added. "We do that. We need to be patient."

Bayern, who were also without Arjen Robben for the majority of last season's run-in, reinforced their squad with the signings of Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk and Kingsley Coman from Juventus this summer.