Group F

Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona’s good run of form belies their current injury crisis with Gabri and Thiago Motta out with long-term knee problems, Rafael Marquez, Sylvinho, Gerard Lopez and Jorquera will also be unavailable for the Champions League clash with Shakhtar.

The Catalan side are joint top of La Liga, level with Valencia and are looking to continue their good start to the season on the European stage.

Goofy genius Ronaldinho is looking forward to his home debut in the Champions League.

“I’m going to love seeing the Camp Nou full, noisy and hopefully enjoying itself very much,” said the skilful Brazilian.

“My only desire is to win the game and entertain the fans.”

The Ukrainian side will be without league top scorer Julius Aghahowa for the clash. The Nigerian sustained a knee injury after crashing into a goal post during his sides’ 3-1 win over Metalurh Zaporizhya at the weekend. “The player will need about two weeks to recover and he cant even run in the meantime,” said team doctor Artur Gluschenko.