Spanish trio trying to learn about unknown opponents (News Feature)

By Duncan Shaw Sep 14, 2009, 9:09 GMT

Madrid - Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are working around the clock to find out something useful about their first Champions League opponents.

Atletico are at home on Tuesday to Apoel Nicosia and Real are in Switzerland at Zurich. On Wednesday, Sevilla take on another team of debutants, Romanian side Unirea Urziceni.

Zurich are better known as Apoel and Unirea, which gives Atletico and Sevilla the hardest time to find out about their mysterious opponents.

Atletico coach Abel Resino admitted that 'we do not really know very much' about Apoel. He said that he had seen a couple of videos of their preliminary round heroics, but 'very little else.'

'They must be a good team,' he concluded, 'to have got this far...We shall treat them with respect.'

Anything less than a convincing win on Tuesday will bring the wrath of the Estadio Calderon down on Resino and his players, who have made a poor start in La Liga, picking up just one point from their first two matches.

Prior to Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander there was a noisy fans' demonstration against club owners Enrique Cerezo and Miguel Angel Gil Marin, partly because of their failure to sign any big-name new players this summer.

This is the second successive season that Atletico have reached the group stage of the Champìons League, but there is much more anger than satisfaction in evidence at the Estadio Calderon these days.

The long-suffering Atletico fans had to suffer this summer as profligate neighbours Real Madrid went on a record 256 million euro (373.14 million dollars) spending spree, whilst Cerezo and Gil Marin actually raked in more from player sales than they spent in purchases.

Last season Atletico reached the round of 16, where they were edged out by FC Porto. Porto are one of their opponents in Group D, along with Chelsea and Apoel.

Sevilla, meanwhile, have been struggling to get information about Unirea Urziceni, their first Group G rivals.

Unirea surprisingly won the Romanian championship last season, just three years after being promoted to the top flight.

When asked on Sunday, Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano was unable to name a single Unirea player. The in-form Brazilian, however, said that 'just because we do not know much about them we should not thibnk it will be an easy game.'

Luis Fabiano scored twice in Saturday's 4-1 destruction of Zaragoza.

Sevilla's only absentee on Wednesday will be defender Ivica Dragutinovic, who has a heavy cold.

This will be only the second campaign in the Champions League for Sevilla, who won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007. Two years ago they made their Champions League debut and reached the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

Real's opponents Zurich are not quite as exotic, but Cristiano Ronaldo and company are also under the biggest pressure to do well.

Real must confirm its record-breaking summer spending spree in an event they have not won since 2002. Even more important, the final on May 22, 2010, takes place in their home stadium.

'The ambition is to win the Champions League. On top of that, you have the possibility of us being at home ­ and it would be fantastic to play the final at the Bernabeu,' Brazilian midfielder Kaka told the UEFA website.

Zurich coach Bernard Challandes, meanwhile, spoke of 'a magnificent adventure,' a statement that will also apply to Unirea and Apoel.