Sports Desk, Oct 19 (EFE).- Bayern Munich are poised to launch their campaign to defend the Champions League title just under 60 days after they lifted the trophy in Lisbon back in August.

Hansi Flick's German treble winners return to European action on Wednesday night, when they will host Group A rivals Atlético Madrid at the Allianz Stadium.

Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said the team would train to be "at full strength" when they welcome the Spanish side, according to the club's official website.

"They're a strong and awkward team. They were rightly in the knockout stages last season. Everyone knows the players, so we can look forward to a great night of football on Wednesday," he said.

Robert Lewandowski, speaking after Bayern's 4-1 win against Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday - in which the Polish striker bagged a brace - said: "We need to maintain the rhythm and win the next game too."

Preparations are already underway in Madrid Monday as Atléti train ahead what promised to be a challenging encounter.

Head coach Diego Simeone is without Diego Costa, who has a muscle issue, so Bayern will most likely come up against the attacking combination of Joao Félix and new-comer Luis Suárez.

The Colchoneros' central defender Stefan Savic spoke with his club's media before the encounter.

"We have a tough group because Bayern, as we all know, won the last Champions League and they are in good form," he said.

"But I think the team is ready and we can be competitive," he added.

Before the Bayern-Atléti clash, last year's finalists Paris-Saint Germain will welcome an unpredictable Manchester United side to the Parc des Princes on Tuesday evening.

Thomas Tuchel, PSG's head coach said he didn't know what to expect from Manchester United on Tuesday.

"In some games they (show) their weakness but also their strengths," he said.

"We have to admit that their individual quality is at the highest level, if you look at Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, etc, it's the highest, highest level in Europe," he said, adding, however, that the Premier League team seemed to have somewhat failed to find its rhythm.

Ole Gunnar Solskjærs team have won two and lost two so far this season.

New signing Edison Cavani could make his Manchester debut against his former club this week, and Anthony Martial, who is serving a suspension in the Premier League, is eligible to play.

PSG's star players Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Jr. and veteran Ángel Di María were all key to the French treble winners' Champions League campaign last year.

Barcelona kick-off at the same time against Hungarian team Ferencváros and will look to turn the page on their disastrous campaign last year, which culminated with the humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern.

Ronald Koeman, the club's new head coach, said in an interview with Uefa that remaining united would be key for his side.

"The big lesson for me is that if you don't play as a team, you will not win. First of all, if you see the physical state of the Bayern team, it's excellent, and the organisation in the team was excellent. That was a big difference on that night," he said.

The Dutch manager has embarked on the process of trying to reshape the team, which shed big names over the summer in a bid to balance the books. The new project revolves around the irreplaceable Lionel Messi and youngsters like Ansu Fati.

Barcelona lost 1-0 to Getafe in LaLiga on Saturday evening.

Real Madrid also lost 1-0 over the weekend, capitulating to recently-promoted Cádiz in LaLiga.

The defending LaLiga champions host Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night to kick-off their Champions League campaign.

Also on Tuesday night, Sevilla head up to London to take on a Chelsea team that is still finding its feet with a raft of summer signings and Lazio host Borussia Dortmund.

Liverpool are set to face Ajax on Thursday without star defender Virgil van Dijk, who must undergo surgery on his ACL, and Manchester City host Porto to kick off their campaign. EFE

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