Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is playing down expectations ahead of Tuesday's Champions League opener against Dynamo Kiev, despite a massive outlay on new players having thrust the ambitious club firmly into the spotlight.

PSG's bid to become a European power has caught the headlines after a spending spree of nearly €160 million to recruit Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Thiago Silva from Serie A among other signings.

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery is hoping to be fit to face Valencia in the Champions League on Wednesday. Teammate Arjen Robben has "to wait and see."

Both players missed Bayern's 3-1 Bundesliga win over Mainz with minor injuries on Saturday, but came through team training on Monday.

Struggling in the Spanish league and with its star player and coach publicly unhappy, the last thing beleaguered Real Madrid needed was a Champions League opener against a Manchester City side desperate to muscle in on Europe's elite this season.

A trip to the Santiago Bernabeu looked to have consigned City to the harshest of starts to the continent's premier club competition but the English champions will be relishing the chance to pile more misery on Madrid.

Former Juventus star Alessandro Del Piero says he has no fear of the expectations attached to his arrival in Australian and the hope his star power will revitalize the A-League.

Del Piero calmly answered questions in English and Italian in his first Australian news conference on Monday, saying he welcomes the pressure that will go with being the A-League's biggest name.

The mascot of the 2014 World Cup is a yet to-be-named Brazilian endangered armadillo.

FIFA said Brazilians will have until mid-November to choose the mascot's name from three choices — Amijubi, Fuleco and Zuzeco. The mascot's announcement was made Sunday on a television show with the participation of former Brazil star Ronaldo.

Serie A champion Juventus came from behind to beat Genoa 3-1 Sunday and extend its perfect record ahead of its return to the Champions League.

Ciro Immobile gave Genoa the lead against the club which still owns half his contract, and the home side had several chances to double its advantage as Juventus seemed headed for its first league defeat since May, 2011.

French international full-back Aly Cissokho was the hero as Valencia beat Celta 2-1 on Saturday to record their first win of La Liga season.

The summer signing from Lyon, playing only his second game for the club, headed home a Tino Costa free-kick on 50 minutes for Valencia's winner.

Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes marked his 700th appearance for the club with a goal in a 4-0 Premier League win over Wigan on Saturday as champions Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke.

Elsewhere, Arsenal thrashed bottom of the table Southampton 6-1 to leave the newly promoted Saints still searching for their first points of the season.

Arsenal taught Southampton a harsh lesson about the realities of life in the Premier League by hammering them 6-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Ivory Coast international Gervinho led the rout with two goals while Lukas Podolski's effort, a late Theo Walcott strike and two own goals continued an unbeaten start to the season for Arsene Wenger's side.

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel watching in the stands, defending champions Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a convincing 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday to go third in the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich stay top of the league after their 3-1 home win over Mainz, but Dortmund moved up the table from sixth after they saw off Leverkusen at Borussia's sold-out Signal Iduna Park.