Sports

LONDON — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes clubs found guilty of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules should be deducted points and have titles stripped rather than face fines. Premier League champions Manchester City, who face Chelsea in a heavyweight clash between the two title favourites on Sunday, were fined 60 million euros in May for breaking the rules, but the Portuguese believes stricter sanctions should be imposed. “Are the fines fair? I don’t think so. What is fair is to remove points and titles,” the 51-year-old was quoted as saying by British media. The FFP rules, which were set up by the Club Financial Control Body in 2012, are designed to limit financial losses and make football clubs more financially stable. FFP rules also dictated that their squad for this season’s Champions League was capped at 21 players rather than the usual 25, but Mourinho suggested the punishment was not enough to dissuade repeat offenders. “If you have to take one or two players off your list for the Champions League and instead of going with 24 go with 22, no problem,” he added. “But say you start the next championship with six points deducted, and play in the Europa League, that is more serious.”

INCHEON, South Korea — North Korea’s Om Yun Chol beat his own world record in the men’s 56-kilogramme clean and jerk by 1 kilogramme on Saturday to grab weightlifting gold on the first day of competition at the Asian Games.

Om, the 2012 Olympic champion and 2013 world champion, lifted 170 kilogrammes Saturday to earn North Korea’s first gold medal at the games — a regional version of the Olympics. Om also had a combined total of 298 kilogrammes to mark an Asian Games record after lifting 128 kilogrammes in the snatch.

Isolated North Korea has 150 athletes competing in 14 sports at the games in the South Korean city of Incheon, where they are being cheered by local fans despite the bitter hostility between their governments dating from the 1950-53 Korean war, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Margarita Yelisseyeva of Kazakhstan won the other weightlifting gold in the women’s 48-kilogramme category with a combined weight of 194 kilogrammes.

At the end of the first day, hosts South Korea topped the medal table with five golds and a total of 13 medals. Powerhouse China was second with five golds and 11 medals overall. Mongolia is third with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

South Korea dominated in fencing, winning both gold and silver in the men’s epee individual and women’s sabre individual. Lee Ra-jin edged out teammate Olympic gold medallist Kim Jiyeon to win the sabre gold, while Olympic bronze medallist Jung Jin-sun defeated teammate Park Kyong-doo in the epee.

“It was pressuring at first because the fencing matches were placed at the beginning of the Asian Games,” Jung said. “But if we get to the end in this condition, I think we will be able to win eight, nine or even 10 gold medals.”

Kim said she was only slightly disappointed to have lost to another South Korean fencer.

“It’s true that I used up a lot of energy in the semifinal round, but I’d like to think that I lost because Lee Ra-jin played well,” Kim said.

Two bronzes were awarded in both events, split between fencers from China, Vietnam and Singapore.

Both of Mongolia’s golds came in judo, with Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj winning the men’s 66-kilogramme class and Urantsetseg Munkhbat taking the women’s 48-kilogramme competition. Japan’s Misato Nakamura won the women’s 52-kilogramme class and Yeldos Smetov took gold in the men’s 60 kilogramme.

In women’s football, highly favoured North Korea downed minnows Hong Kong 5-0.

In cycling, China and South Korea split the golds in the team sprint, with the hosts winning the men’s competition and China taking the women’s.

China also struck gold in synchronised swimming, leaving the silver to Japan and bronze to Kazakhstan.

Teams from 45 countries and regions from the Far East to the Middle East are competing in 42 sports at the games, including eight — such as bowling, cricket and squash — that aren’t part of the Olympic programme.

China’s team of almost 900 athletes is the largest, with 68 per cent of its athletes taking part in their first Asiad. Brunei has the smallest team at just 11 athletes.

A highlight of the 16-day games comes as early as Sunday, when China’s Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang faces his chief rival, Park Tae-hwan of South Korea. They are due to clash in the 200-, 400-, and 1,500-metre freestyle events.

Also Saturday, Indonesia was formally named the host country for the 2018 Asian Games, filling the void created when Vietnam relinquished its hosting rights over financial concerns.

Indonesia’s National Olympic Committee said Saturday that events would be held in the capital of Jakarta, along with the regions of South Sumatra and West Java.

LONDON — Striker Diego Costa, who has scored seven goals for Chelsea in his first four Premier League games, cannot play more than once a week because of a hamstring problem, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said.

Mourinho, looking down in the dumps after Chelsea could only draw 1-1 with Schalke 04 in their opening Champions League Group G match on Wednesday, started with returning veteran striker Didier Drogba in attack with Costa on the bench against the Germans.

The Brazil-born Spain international, who cost Chelsea £32 million ($52 million) when he joined from Atletico Madrid in the summer, replaced Drogba in the 74th minute, but could not keep up his remarkable scoring record which includes four goals in pre-season and seven in the League including his hat-trick against Swansea City on Saturday.

Mourinho said Costa’s injury is not connected to one he suffered towards the end of last season and which restricted him to just the first nine minutes when he played for Atletico against Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League final.

He did recover from that to play for Spain in the World Cup and Mourinho added: “When he came to us he was completely fine. He got the problem with the national team.”

Costa picked up the injury in Spain’s 1-0 defeat to France on September 4 and Mourinho said he could not play more than one match a week for the time being.

“If he has one week to let the muscle recover he can start. He played on Saturday and was not in condition to start the game today.”

Costa scored the last time he played in a Champions League match at Stamford Bridge — when he banged home a penalty in Atletico’s 3-1 win over Chelsea in last season’s semifinal — but failed to hit the target during the later stages of the game against Schalke as Chelsea sought the winner.

“It was not to protect Costa for the game against Manchester City on Sunday, it was because he was not in condition to start the game,” Mourinho said.

“Playing on Saturday, three days is not enough for him to recover. He will play against City but he cannot play against Bolton [in the League Cup] next week, that’s for sure.”

Drogba, back at Chelsea after two years away playing in China and Turkey, was playing in his first Champions League match for the club since scoring the decisive penalty in the 2012 final shoot-out against Bayern Munich.

He had two good chances to score but fired narrowly wide and then blazed a chance over the bar in the second half.

Chelsea dominated much of the match and took the lead when Cesc Fabregas scored his first goal for the club in the 11th minute but Chelsea failed to capitalise on their superiority and allowed Schalke to escape with a point after Klaas-Jan Huntelaar equalised in the 62nd minute.

Bayern Munich’s last-minute victory over Manchester City may have left fans delighted with a winning Champions League Group E start but highlighted their need to improve their finishing after missing a string of clear chances.

Last season’s Bundesliga striker Robert Lewandowski, brought in to boost their frontline, has yet to score in a competitive game for the Bavarians and on Wednesday the Poland international had his own share of missed opportunities.

“We are happy with the winning start and the three points but obviously we could have scored much earlier and it may have turned out to be an easier game than it was,” said captain Philipp Lahm.

Bayern needed a 90th minute goal from defender Jerome Boateng after they saw City keeper Joe Hart deny them on several occasions despite dominating the game and having close to 60 per cent possession.

Lionel Messi set up Barcelona’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Cypriot club APOEL on Wednesday for an uninspiring Champions League debut for coach Luis Enrique in Group F.

Messi picked out Gerard Pique with a free kick and the defender headed in the hosts’ solitary goal in the 28th minute at Camp Nou.

In the other Group F match, Paris Saint-Germain was held to a 1-1 at Ajax after Lasse Schone scored from a 74th-minute free kick to cancel out an early goal by PSG’s Edinson Cavani.

AMMAN — Week 2 of the 63rd Jordan Professional League kicks off this weekend. Week 1 found 13-time titleholders Wihdat beating Sarih 2-0 to top the standings. They will next play Ahli, who are back among the top clubs and held Jazira 0-0 last week. Faisali, who were runners-up, held 1-1 by Ittihad Ramtha and will need to regroup ahead of playing Hussein, who held Baqaa 1-1. Jordan Cup titleholders That Ras, who finished fourth last season, lost to Ramtha 1-0 and next play former champs Shabab Urdun, who finished ninth last season. Shabab beat Manshieh 2-1 and are now second. In August, the preliminary round of the Jordan Cup ended as eight teams advanced with Baqaa, Shabab Urdun and Hussein eliminated. The top four teams from each of the two groups moved to the quarters which will see Ahli play Ramtha, That Ras take on Jazira, Wihdat vs. Sarih and Faisali go up against Manshieh. 

AMMAN — The Get Into Rugby Youth Development Programme, established globally to promote the five core values of the game and encourage fans of the sport to enjoy it, kicked off on Wednesday at 14 Schools in Jordan.

HRH Prince Mired, president of the Jordan Rugby Committee (JRC), highlighted the significance of introducing rugby in schools, saying at a press conference held at Lycee Francais Amman: “We are really proud of this initiative and we are excited to see as many as 14 schools in the Kingdom accepted this programme with full force. Our target is to involve other schools whether public or private.”

“We were somehow pessimistic that schools would not accept the idea at the beginning but after seeing the positive reception from schools especially having 14 schools and 44 physical education teachers committed to delivering the Get Into Rugby Programme for 2014/2015 we became really optimistic and now we will increase our efforts and hope more schools join in the near future,” the prince said.

“We thank HRH Prince Feisal, president of the Jordan Olympic Committee [JOC], for his support and all those dedicated fans of this sport which we believe has a great future and unmatched excitement. This is a major milestone in the development of rugby in Jordan which we are proud of, as it will allow for the Jordanian youth to join the global community of this unique sport with its strong values and great educational benefits,” he added.

The programme which comes with full sets of training materials and resources will be conducted through three comprehensive phases.

“We have the Try Phase which introduces children to the values [integrity, respect, solidarity, passion and discipline]and principles of the game. The training sessions of this phase are no-contact exercise and taught in the PE classes for all students,” JRC’s David Martinon told The Jordan Times.

“While the Play Phase will provide the opportunity to experience the game in a safe and fun environment through a rugby seven’s school leagues and events after an initial training period. The training sessions from this phase start to be contact exercise [touch Rugby] and are taught during extra curriculum,” he added. 

Meanwhile the Stay Phase keeps athletes involved for years to come.

The programme is targeting 1,000 young players for the 2014/15 season in Jordan and the Kingdom is one of the 150 countries being involved as part of the International Rugby Board strategy as rugby rejoins the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

The JRC with the support of the JOC and the Asian Rugby Football Union will be providing schools with specific trainings and rugby playing kits. 

Qais Haddad, a physical education teacher at the Ahliyyah School for Girls told The Jordan Times that this is a great initiative.

“We are really proud to be part of this programme and as our school pays great attention and effort in developing the sporting scene we are sure that this programme will give excitement and benefits to students,” he said.

AMMAN — Jordan's national football team will work hard to go beyond its achievements in the last two iterations of the Asian Cup, the new head coach, Raymond Wilkins, said Wednesday. 

"In the Asian Cup, we have reached the quarter-finals in the last two occasions and we have to go [further]," Wilkins said at a press conference after signing his contract. 

"I feel extremely comfortable in the job that I am about to do. I will get to know the players… and I tend to do that very quickly,” the coach said. 

He told reporters that he was extremely "flattered and honoured" to be asked to coach the Nashama (the brave ones) for the coming Asian Cup.

"I think where we come from in England we have a winning mentality... I want to succeed; I don't want to lose, so we will work extremely hard to make that happen." 

HRH Prince Ali, president of the Jordan Football Association (JFA), said in a statement that the decision to appoint the English coach was taken following a thorough selection process and consultations with football experts and friends.

"We have found that Wilkins' international expertise is in line with our requirements and ambitions. This is going to be a unique opportunity for us to learn from someone who has contributed to the success of a number of elite English football clubs," the prince said in the statement.

At a JFA meeting held on the same day, Prince Ali said the new coach will work closely with local football clubs and other stakeholders to improve the national team, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The JFA's executive commission expressed its full support for the coaching team and said it will give the coach ample time to lead the team to major achievements.

Wilkins said he perfectly understands that the attitude of the players and the way players work will be totally different from what he has been used to. 

"But I'm having no problem with that at all," he said, adding that the coaching staff that joined the players in Uzbekistan and China will remain with him.

The Jordanian coaching staff includes Ahmad Abdel Kader, Anzour Hina and Walid Mikhael, in addition to Brazilian fitness coach Manuel. 

Jordan will play Japan, Iraq and Palestine in Group D during the upcoming Asian Football Confederation’s 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. 

Wilkins won 84 caps for England during his playing days, which spanned more than two decades, according to Reuters. He played as a midfielder for a handful of different teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers.

He began coaching in 1994 and worked as an assistant with several teams, including Fulham, Chelsea, Watford and Millwall.

He returned to Fulham as an assistant coach in 2013 before leaving the post earlier this year, according to Reuters.

AMMAN — The Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) has joined the Mongolian Football Federation (MFF), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and One World Futbol Project (OWFP) to collaboratively launch Ultra-durable Balls Donation project in Ulaanbaatar, according to a statement from AFDP.

A total of 5,200 Chevrolet branded balls were delivered on Monday to MFF and organisations working with grassroots and youth football in Mongolia. The ultra-durable One World Futbol never needs a pump and never deflates — even when punctured multiple times — making it ideal for play in all types of terrain and harsh environments. 

“AFDP is delighted to be continuing its support to football in Mongolia together with our partners through the One World Futbol initiative but also through backing the Magic Ball grass-roots championship for schoolchildren and the distribution of UEFA-donated balls. We hope to be able to take our support to all of Asia and help push the process of football development forward,” AFDP Chairman HRH Prince Ali was quoted in the statement as saying. 

AFC President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa expressed his pride at AFC’s involvement with the initiative stating that the programme has far reaching effects in giving youths, even those in remote, underprivileged areas, a chance to play football and enjoy the game. According to Sheikh Salman, One World Futbol Project has done a remarkable job in helping develop the game in Asia by offering such a unique product, and AFC’s member associations including Mongolia are benefiting
greatly from it.

MFF President Ganbold Buyannemekh shared that MFF is proud to know that they are one of the earliest Asian countries to receive the balls under the MoU between
AFC-AFDP and One World Futbol Project. These balls will be distributed to selected rural schools, NGOs and organisations which are working closely with community football and grass-roots football development in numerous parts of Mongolia. The balls will be distributed to these organisations based on the size and the need of the programme.

One World Futbol Project hopes that these joint efforts across Asia and with the relevant football bodies will bring the healing power of play to youth worldwide by making, selling and distributing the One World Futbol, a nearly indestructible ball and is designed to survive the harshest environments. 

Collaborating with sponsors, organisations and individuals, One World Futbol Project delivers balls to disadvantaged communities where play and sports are used to foster social change.

In May 2012, Chevrolet became the founding sponsor of One World Futbol Project, pledging to donate and support the distribution of at least 1.5 million Chevrolet-branded One World Futbols worldwide over three years. The balls will be used in programmes that provide education, teach essential life skills and encourage conflict resolution to youth living in disadvantaged areas.

To date, the One World Futbol has reached more than 165 countries through One World Futbol Project’s growing global network of organisations, bringing the healing power of play to an estimated 21 million youth worldwide, according to the statement.

AMMAN  — Jordan’s women’s football teams has a tough task when they play Japan on Thursday in their second match at the 17th Asian Games football competition which got under way in Incheon, South Korea, this week.

Jordan came from 2-0 down to tie Taiwan in their first Group B match. They will play China in their third match on
September 22.

Jordan is the only Arab team among 11 competing teams. Group A includes South Korea, Thailand, India and the Maldives. Group C includes North Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The top two from each group and the top two third-placed team will advance to the quarters.

Jordan had moved to the Asian Cup finals for the first time after a three-game winning streak in Group A qualifiers — beating Uzbekistan 4-0, Lebanon 5-0 and Kuwait 21-0.

The senior women’s team is hoping to bounce back after an early elimination from the 2014 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup where Jordan lost to world champs Japan 7-0, and 3-1 to Australia and Vietnam in Group A. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team qualified to the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

The Kingdom was the only Arab team to have ever qualified to the premier women’s football competition in the AFC region, and was one of eight qualifying teams playing in two groups. 

This year, Jordan regained the West Asian Football Championship title with an unbeaten streak. With Iran, Lebanon as well as two-time champs and holders UAE missing the event, Jordan beat Bahrain 5-0, Qatar 7-0 and Palestine 10-0. Jordan, now 52nd in FIFA rankings and the 12th ranked Asian team and the best Arab team on the list, had won the West Asian title twice in 2005 an 2007 but lost the title in 2010 and 2012 to the UAE.

Meanwhile, the men’s Olympic football team will play the UAE in their first Group G match on Thursday before facing India on September 22. The UAE beat India 5-0 in the opening match. 

Jordan’s squad, which is also set to play in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers on March 2015, has struggled to regroup with national team as well as club agendas hampering coach Jamal Abu Abed’s plans. 

Before departure, they played three local matches losing to Wihdat 2-0, tying Jazira 1-1 and beating Shabab Urdun 2-1. In friendlies they beat Uzbekistan 2-1, held Iran 2-2 and 1-1, held Kuwait 1-1 twice and had a goalless draw with Qatar. They finished second at the Palestine International Championship and earlier this year the team hosted the England C squad in a historic match, losing 1-0. 

The 17th Asian Games opens on September 19 and concludes on October 4. Jordan will compete in 12 sports: football, basketball, taekwondo, karate, boxing, triathlon, cycling, judo, wrestling, squash, wushu, and weightlifting.

OREBRO, Sweden — Marcus Ericsson has had a tough debut season in Formula One, with his Caterham team struggling on and off the track, but Sweden’s first Grand Prix driver in 23 years believes he has a future in the sport.

The 24-year-old certainly has plenty of home fans hoping that will be the case.

He was left in no doubt about that as he stopped off in the town of Orebro, where a statue commemorates the late local hero Ronnie Peterson, for an F1 demonstration through closed streets before heading to Singapore for this weekend’s night race.

Peterson, the hugely popular “SuperSwede” who died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 1978, won 10 races and twice finished runner-up in the championship.

The last Swedish F1 racer before Ericsson was Stefan Johansson, who made 12 podium appearances without winning between 1983 and 1991.

Orebro is the beating heart of motorsport in Sweden and Ericsson, who comes from the town of Kumla, some 20km down the road, knows he is following some big names.

“We’ve had so many great drivers from this area — Ronnie Petersson, Stig Blomqvist in rallying and many more in touring cars and different classes,” he told Reuters in an interview.

“It’s been 23 years since the last Swede in Formula One, so for me to be the next F1 driver at all these races around the world has been amazing,” added the driver who started out karting locally as a nine-year-old.

“There’s been so many Swedish fans at the tracks, it’s been a great year so far in that respect.”

In other respects, less so for a driver whose sponsors played an important role in his landing the race seat.

Cash needed 

Caterham, who have yet to score a point in four-and-a-half years of trying, were in need of cash from their drivers even before the season started and that only increased when Malaysian aviation entrepreneur Tony Fernandes sold the team in July.

Ericsson’s Japanese teammate Kamui Kobayashi was dropped for the Belgian Grand Prix and faces an uncertain future at a team that has also shed staff under a new management determined to cut costs.

The aftershocks continued with Dutch principal Christijan Albers, appointed only in July, resigning after the Italian Grand Prix eight days ago.

Ericsson said he had no idea who would partner him in Singapore, and that he paid little attention to the turbulence around the team.

“To be honest, when you’re in the car and preparing for race weekends you’re so focused on that you don’t really think about it,” he said.

“It’s not been something that has influenced me but obviously now we have the new owners that have come in and they’ve been pushing really hard to continue developing the car, so that’s been very positive. I think we’re in a good trend.”

The highlight of Ericsson’s season was 11th place in Monaco, equalling the team’s best ever result, but there have been plenty of tough weekends too.

“The debut season in F1 is obviously very tough but it’s been OK,” he said. “The aim for me is to stay in Formula One for many years and that’s what we’re working at doing at the moment.”

The Swede smiled as he prepared to go out and meet sponsors and fans, joking that one day he too could have a permanent monument in Orebro.

“If you come back in 15 years, you’ll see my statue there!” he said.

LONDON/ MADRID — The good news for Schalke 04’s defenders as they prepare to face Chelsea in their opening Champions League Group G match on Wednesday is that striker Diego Costa is nursing a slight hamstring injury.

The bad news is that even without being fully fit he has scored seven goals in his opening four matches for his new club since his £32.0 million ($52.03 million) transfer from Atletico Madrid.

Schalke will have plenty to fear if, as expected, he plays against them at Stamford Bridge.

Those goals, which included a hat-trick in Chelsea’s 4-2 win over previously unbeaten Swansea City on Saturday, have helped preserve Chelsea’s perfect start to the season, in contrast to winless Schalke’s start in the Bundesliga.

Chelsea are top of the Premier League with a maximum 12 points while Schalke are languishing near the foot of the German table with one point from their first three matches.

They know what to expect from Chelsea, too, after losing to them 3-0 both home and away in last season’s Champions League group stage, and on current early season form Chelsea look capable of beating them again by at least that margin.

After another impressive performance on Saturday, Costa, the first player since 1992 to score in his first four Premier League games, said despite his great start he had not yet settled down to life in London, but was settling in well at the club.

“I have not yet been out in London, but I am trying to get to know it and bit by bit adapt to London,” the Brazil-born naturalised Spain international said.

“To have an old teammate [Filipe Luis] here is very important. Ramires, Willian, Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta have all helped me a lot. I am very happy.”

Fabregas, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona in the summer, has also made an excellent start at Stamford Bridge, with assists in every game he has played so far. 

Schalke crisis 

While Chelsea are on the crest of a wave, Schalke, who finished third in the Budesliga last season, are in a crisis.

The royal blues were crushed 4-1 by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday and are two off the bottom with just one point and a goal difference of minus four. That point came from a 1-1 draw with champions Bayern Munich.

Schalke, who also lost 2-1 to third-tier Dynamo Dresden in the opening round of the German Cup a month ago, sought more consistency this season after last season’s rollercoaster ride.

But coach Jens Keller has yet to get the most out of a talented squad, with Kevin-Prince Boateng sluggish in midfield and attacking midfielder Julian Draxler and Dutch international striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar playing below par.

Keller’s cause has not been helped by a thigh injury to defender Felipe Santana, while other injured squad players are also out and restricting his options.

Lack of on-field chemistry 

One of the most disappointing aspects of Barcelona’s failure to win major silverware last season was the lack of on-field chemistry between Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Four-time World Player of the Year Messi and Brazil forward Neymar had injury troubles during 2013/14 but when they were fit, Barca fans, expecting the emergence of a lethal partnership scoring entertaining goals at will, were largely disappointed.

On the evidence of Saturday’s 2-0 La Liga win at home to Athletic Bilbao, however, this season may be a different story.

Neymar came off the bench for the final half hour at the Nou Camp and netted a clinical double from a pair of superb Messi assists to preserve Barca’s perfect start to the season with three wins in three matches and no goals conceded.

New coach Luis Enrique will be expecting more of the same when Barca host Cypriot side APOEL in their Champions League Group F opener on Wednesday.

A former Barca and Spain midfielder who had stints in charge at clubs including AS Roma and Celta Vigo, Luis Enrique took over from Gerardo Martino with a brief to improve on last term’s elimination in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid.

Barca spent heavily in the transfer window, bringing in Uruguay forward Luis Suarez, who is banned until the end of October, Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic and France centre back Jeremy Mathieu.

After a positive start, when the defensive weakness that wrecked last season appeared to have been ironed out, hopes are high the club can challenge for silverware again.

“Each year our goal is to get to the [Champions League] final and going out to Atletico last season was a shame,” forward Pedro told a news conference on Monday.

“We have a lot of desire and excitement about winning this title,” added the Spain international.

“The coach has told us to pressure very high up the pitch, steal the ball and keep it ourselves.

“We have done that very well and barely conceded any chances, but there is still room for improvement.” 

Daunting task

APOEL, competing in the group stage for the third time, reached the quarter-finals on their last Champions League appearance in 2011/12.

They have never played Barca and face a daunting task at the Nou Camp, where the Catalan giants have lost only one of their last 27 home games in Europe’s elite club competition.

“Barca are a team who are building up their armoury again but they have also managed to maintain their base,” APOEL’s Spanish-Belgian goalkeeper Urko Pardo said in an interview published on Barca’s website on Monday.

Ajax Amsterdam host Paris St. Germain in the other Group F game.