Barca, Reds begin Champions League campaign

New Delhi: Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be keen to make a winning return to the San Siro to face his former club Inter Milan when Barcelona begin their Champions League title defence on Wednesday night.

The Swedish striker, who was last season's top scorer in Serie A, opted to sign for Barcelona this summer.

Ibrahimovic scored his first goal with Barcelona in last weekend's 2-0 win at Getafe and would be keen to take his new team to victory in Italy.

Inter Milan, who are fourth in the Series A standings after three games, have lost just one of their 15 home encounters against Spanish teams.

In the other Champions League match on Wednesday Liverpool will kick-off their campaign with a home game against Hungarian champions Debrecen in Group E.

The Reds reached the quarter-finals of last season's competition and will start as strong favourites against a side that had to come through six qualifying matches to reach the group stages.

Liverpool are expected to recall Argentine midfielder Havier Mascherano, while their Brazilian full-back Fabio Aurelio is back in contention for a place after his knee surgery.

Despite their opponents being low on reputation, Rafael Benitez refuses to underestimate them.

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