Preview: Porto vs. BATE Borisov

Porto begin their Champions League Group H campaign with a home match against BATE Borisov on Wednesday evening.

The Portuguese outfit, who are now under the stewardship of former Spain Under-21 boss Julen Lopetegui, were eliminated in the group stages last season after failing to win any of their three home matches.

They booked their spot in this season's competition with a playoff win over French side Lille, but they have never played a team from Belarus, with BATE therefore very much an unknown quantity.

The visitors, meanwhile, are in the group stages of the Champions League for the third time in four seasons, but they have never made it past this stage of the competition.

They have also lost each of their last three European games on the road, while they are just one match into their domestic campaign and therefore behind Porto in terms of preparation.

Porto are expected to be without the services of Goncalo Paciencia and Oliver Torres through knee and shoulder injuries respectively.

Alex Sandro is also a doubt due to a thigh problem, while on-loan Barcelona attacker Cristian Tello is also said to be struggling with a muscular complaint. On-loan Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro should start, however, while Netherlands World Cup star Bruno Martins Indi has reportedly shaken off a slight strain.

BATE, meanwhile, have no fresh injury concerns or suspensions ahead of the match. Vitali Rodionov is expected to start in attack, with Andriy Yakovlyev providing the support. The club's only Russian player Anri Khagush is also expected to start.

Possible starting lineups

Recent form

Porto: WWWWL

BATE: DWWWD

Porto: Fabiano; Angel, Danilo, Maicon, Martins Indi; Brahimi, Herrera, Casemiro; Quintero, Martinez, Quaresma

BATE: Chernik; Tubic, Filipenko, Khagush, Mladenovic; Likhtarovich, Volodko, Pavlov, Yakovlev; Rodionov, Aleksievich

Sports Mole says: 2-0