PARIS — Champion Barcelona begins its bid to become the first side since AC Milan in 1990 to retain Europe's premier club trophy away to Roma while faltering Chelsea hosts Israelis Maccabi Tel Aviv on the second day of the opening round of Champions League matches. Here, we preview Wednesday's eight matches from Groups E, F, G and H: Group E Bayer Leverkusen vs. BATE Borisov Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov meet for the first time in their opening Champions League Group E fixture at the BayArena. Leverkusen, which reached the round of 16 last season, advanced the group stage following a 3-1 aggregate playoff win over Lazio. Difficult to break down on its home ground, Roger Schmidt's side has won five of its last six home fixtures in Europe, and conceded just two goals in its last 12 homes matches. BATE advanced through three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage. It is its fifth group stage appearance but it has never gotten past this round, conceding 24 goals in last year's campaign. Roma vs. Barcelona Lionel Messi-powered Barcelona open its title defense in Rome's Stadio Olimpico as it bids to become the first team since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 to win back-to-back titles. The Spaniards arrive at the former club of coach Luis Enrique buoyed by a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Atletico Madrid in which Messi came off the bench to score the winner to keep its perfect start to the La Liga season at the weekend. No team has ever retained the European Cup in the UEFA Champions League era but Enrique will be looking to get off to a strong start at the club he managed in the 2011-2012 season. Roma warmed up for the tie with a 2-0 win away to Serie A new boys Frosinone at the weekend. Group F Dinamo Zagreb vs. Arsenal Dinamo is on a 15-game winless run in the Champions League, failing to make it out of the group stage in four attempts. The Croatian champion came up against Arsenal in the third qualifying round in 2006-2007, losing 5-1 on aggregate to the Premier League giant. Wenger says his side, sitting fourth in the league, needs to find the right balance between “urgency and confidence” in Zagreb. Olympiakos vs. Bayern Munich Olympiakos, under recently appointed coach Marco Silva, is making its fifth successive appearance in the competition, and has proved tough to dismantle at its Piraeus HQ. The Greeks are on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions. Bayern, five-time European champion, welcomes back Mario Goetze, the Germany international who is fit after missing Saturday's 2-1 come-from-behind Bundesliga win over Augsburg. But longterm sickbay residents Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are absent. Group G Dynamo Kiev vs. Porto Returning to the Champions League after missing out for the last two years, Dynamo Kiev aims to defeat a Porto side which is unbeaten in its six visits to Ukraine. Chelsea vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv With its defense of the Premier League title already in turmoil after three defeats in its first five matches, Chelsea kicks off its European campaign hoping for a morale-boosting victory over a Maccabi Tel-Aviv team returning to the competition after a 10-year absence. Group H Valencia vs. Zenit St Petersburg The omens are not good for Zenit in a match that sees two Portuguese former colleagues lead their sides into battle. Valencia's Nuno and Andre Villas-Boas of Zenit worked together under Jose Mourinho in their Porto days when the former was a reserve goalkeeper and the latter a coach. Nuno leads Valencia back into the Champions League after a two-year absence. Ghent vs. Lyon Hein Vanhaezebrouck's Ghent is perhaps unique in the Champions League as it would have preferred a tougher group. Denied the chance to take on a Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester United, its debut in the competition sees it tackle it with limited ambitions. Lyon, semifinalist in 2010, will be expecting to take three points to boost its chances of a place in the knock-out rounds, although it is missing injured forward Nabil Fekir. — AP
