Neeskens warning to Barcelona

Group 'wide open'
Lyon's recent efforts against Real Madrid CF - finishing ahead of the Santiago Bernabéu side in the group stage in each of the last two seasons - seem to lend weight to those words and the club's new coach Alain Perrin considers the section "wide open". Stuttgart will take heart from getting the better of Rangers at this same stage in 2003/04 while the Glasgow club also have plenty to look forward to in a group marked by "a great element of glamour" according to manager Walter Smith.

Johan Neeskens, Barcelona assistant coach
It's a very competitive group. In Europe they would say we're the favourites because of the squad we have but it won't be that easy. Lyon have been French champions for the last six seasons and they're a tough team to beat away from home. Stuttgart are also very strong at home and we will have to play at 100 per cent because German clubs are always difficult. Rangers are currently playing very well and are leaders of the Scottish Premier League so we will have to concentrate against them too.

Alain Perrin, Lyon coach
Behind Barcelona, it's wide open. Barça are the favourites and we be seeing Eric Abidal [who left Lyon for the Camp Nou this summer] again. I think that we'll be competing with Stuttgart. Of course we are aiming for the first knockout round, I'm not that worried.

Mario Gomez, Stuttgart forward 
To me it is special to play against Barcelona in the Champions League. As a teenager I was a great fan of that club and have always dreamed of playing at Camp Nou one day. There are no easy groups or teams to play in the Champions League. Every match is a real highlight. We want to play as efficiently as we did in the last Bundesliga season, no matter who we are up against.

Walter Smith, Rangers manager
It's an extremely tough draw for us but it is simply part and parcel of qualifying for the group phase and there is a great element of glamour about it. Barcelona have fabulous footballers, Lyon have remarkable consistency having won the French title for the past six seasons and Stuttgart won the German title on the final day of [last] season. So there is a great standard of teams and it is clearly going to be very hard for us. In saying that, it will be a great experience for everyone because this is the stage that everyone wants to play on. We are in the group phase and have some huge games to look forward to.