Real Madrid begin their assault on what would be an unprecedented 10th European Cup success when they meet Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Champions League Group B match later on Wednesday.

Most of the Real team have great personal memories of the last time they met in the competition -- their 2-1 win over the Germans in the 2002 final in Glasgow sealed by Zinedine Zidane's outstanding winning volley just before halftime.

Leverkusen will be hoping to an end a seven-match losing streak in the Champions League, while Real start as the strong favourites having beaten the German side four times and drawn once in their five European meetings.

Manchester United kick off a record ninth successive Champions League campaign when they visit Olympique Lyon for the first competitive clash between the clubs.

United have a good record in France, losing just once in eight matches over the years, but Lyon have not lost so far this season in the French league and are also unbeaten at home in their last five European matches.

STYLISH MONACO

Monaco, last season's beaten finalists, face Liverpool bidding to become the first French team to win at Anfield.

However, they have a great recent record against English sides after eliminating Newcastle United, Manchester United and Chelsea in two-legged encounters in the UEFA Cup and Champions League since 1996-97.

Both sides had to qualify for the competition proper but Monaco did so in style beating Nova Goric 9-0 on aggregate while Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Graz AK to scrape through 2-1 on aggregate.

Old rivals Ajax Amsterdam and Juventus, who met in the 1973 and 1996 European Cup finals, face each other for the first time since April 1997 when Juve won the second leg of their semi-final tie 4-1 to complete a 6-2 aggregate victory.

Wednesday's other games are between Deportivo Coruna and Olympiakos, AS Roma and Dynamo Kiev, Fenerbahce and Sparta Prague and a first Champions League match in Israel, featuring Maccabi Tel Aviv and four-time European champions Bayern Munich.

That latter is a poignant meeting as it comes on the eve of the Jewish New Year and is going ahead despite an appeal to UEFA and the civil courts to switch the date on religious grounds.

"I can't understand why it wasn't moved," said a sympathetic Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer, "we wouldn't want to play on Christmas Eve."