Reuters Sports Schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday, Sept 17
Reuters sports schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday: - - - - SOCCER Champions League group stage (1845 unless stated) Ajax Amsterdam v Paris St Germain Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk Barcelona v Apoel Nicosia Bayern Munich v Manchester City Chelsea v Schalke 04 FC Porto v BATE Borisov Maribor v Sporting Lisbon Roma v CSKA Moscow Barca, Bayern and Chelsea in opening group phase action The second day of the opening group phase kicks off with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea all in action along with big-spending Manchester City and Paris St Germain. We will have individual reports on all the key matches. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/) - - Barcelona on form before Group F opener at home to APOEL BARCELONA - After a fine start in La Liga, four-times European champions Barcelona begin their latest campaign in the elite club competition when they host Cypriot side APOEL in Group F. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/BARCELONA (PIX, TV), expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, 500 words) - - Bayern aim to start Champions League with win over City MUNICH - Bayern Munich will be looking to avenge last season's home Champions League defeat by Manchester City as the pair kick off their group campaign. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/BAYERN, expect by 1945 GMT/3:45 PM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 400 words) - - Chelsea hot favourites to beat Schalke 04 again LONDON - Chelsea, who have made a perfect start to the Premier League season with four victories, are overwhelming favourites to beat winless Bundelisga strugglers Schalke 04, as they did twice last season, when they meet in their opening Group G match at Stamford Bridge. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/CHELSEA, expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, by Mike Collett, 500 words) - - In-form Roma back to face CSKA Moscow ROME - AS Roma, who have won their first two Serie A games this season without conceding a goal, return to the Champions League after a four-year absence with a home game against CSKA Moscow. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/ROMA (PIX), expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, 300 words) - - Bilbao host Shakhtar in second group stage appearance BILBAO, Spain - Athletic Bilbao host Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in Group H as the Basque club make only their second appearance in the group stage and their first since the 1998-99 season. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/BILBAO (PIX) expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 P.M. ET, 400 words) - - Ajax hoping for improvement in form against PSG AMSTERDAM - Ajax Amsterdam will hope to set aside a stuttering start to the season when they open their Champions League campaign against Paris St Germain, who have been held to draws in their last two away matches in Ligue 1. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/AJAX (PIX), expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, 500 words) - - - - MOTOR RACING Formula One: Singapore Grand Prix (to 21) Mercedes duo gearing up for Singapore street fight SINGAPORE - Mercedes team mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton renew their sometimes hostile rivalry on the floodlit streets of Singapore this weekend at a circuit where mistakes or collisions normally result in race retirement. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PREVIEW, PIX, TV), moved, by John O'Brien, 500 words) We have also moved a drivers' form sheet and statistics for Sunday's race. - - - - RUGBY Mann-Rea the answer to Australia's hooker shortage SYDNEY - Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie included uncapped forward Josh Mann-Rea, rated by some as Australia's ninth best hooker, in his squad for the last two Rugby Championship tests against South Africa and Argentina (RUGBY-CHAMPIONSHIP/AUSTRALIA-SQUAD, moved, by Nick Mulvenney, 400 words) - - Skelton's progress a weighty matter for Wallabies SYDNEY - When Will Skelton, all 137-kgs of him, rumbled over France flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo to score a try in a sparkling test debut in June, it looked like the 22-year-old lock was going to be a Wallabies fixture for some time to come. (RUGBY-CHAMPIONSHIP/AUSTRALIA-SKELTON, moved, by Nick Mulvenney, 600 words) - - - - BASEBALL Bumgarner, Wainwright seek MLB-leading 19th wins San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner and St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright seek their MLB-leading 19th wins of the season versus the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively, in two of the 15 games on the Major League Baseball schedule. (BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 975 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (expect by 0001 GMT/8:01 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS ATP: Metz Open, France (to 21) WTA: Guangzhou International, China (to 21) Korea Open, Seoul (to 21) Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo (to 21) Copy on merit from early rounds - - - - (London duty editor: Ken Ferris)
