FC Porto will be taking on FK Austria Wien on Wednesday in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League.

While this is the first time that Austria Wien qualified for a group stage spot, Porto boss Paulo Fonseca is aware of the Austrian side's quality.

"Austria qualified as league champions and they possess the quality to threaten us, but we have the ambition to do well in this group," Fonseca told uefa.com.

"Austria have a compact team, they are well organised and dangerous on the counterattack."

"We have seen lot of their games, they are strong in defence."

"When they switch to attack it is simple and fast. [Philipp] Hosiner, [Daniel] Royer and [Marko] Stankovic caught my eye - they are players who think quickly on the pitch and pose a threat to us, so we have to look after them and ensure they do not ruin our plans."

Porto won 2-0 against Gil Vicente in their domestic fixture. Silvestre Varela and Jackson Martinez supplied the team with a goal each.

Regular centre back Maicon Pereira will not be joining the team because of an ankle injury.

On the other hand, debutants Austria Wien, speaking through their manager, Nenad Bjelica, are excited to get things underway but know that they have to show their worth of having sought qualification.
"Of course, it is a special feeling as we are happy to be part of the Champions League this season. We feel responsibility towards the club and it is a reward for all the hard work we have done. However, we are not nervous, we want to enjoy the competition. Porto are a strong team, we are relying on our strengths to surprise them, but we know it is going to be very hard," said Bjelica.

He knows the caliber of players that Porto has, yet he remains adamant that games are not won on paper but on the pitch.

"We have seen many Porto games recently. They are a great team with fantastic individuals in top form. All the statistics are in their favour."

"Together with Atlético de Madrid, they are favourites in this group, though I believe we have our chances."

"Every game starts at 0-0. One player from Porto might be as expensive as our whole squad, but that does not win matches necessarily."

"The market value of players is not significant on the pitch. The team's performance decides things."

Austria Wien was on a streak, winning eight consecutive games on home turf as well as five league games.

However, they suffered a 3-2 setback on Saturday against SV Grödig.

Aside from learning lessons from their recent defeat, the team will be using it as motivation coming into the game on Wednesday.

Dare Vršić, Alexander Grünwald, and Alexander Gorgon have all been excluded for matchday 1.

Schedule and Free Live Online Streaming

Sept 18, 2013 - 4:45 am (AEST)

LINK