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• Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick

  Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. 

  Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times. 

  Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition. 

  While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them. 

  "We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said. 

  "For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.

  "A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.

  "But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."

  Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term. 

  Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.

  "Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.

  "Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.

  "The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.

  "The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."

  And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17). 

  This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.

• Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie

  Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury. 

  Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September. 

  The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

  Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League. 

  In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games. 

  The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.

• Inzaghi expecting Arsenal reaction after Newcastle defeat

  Inter boss Simone Inzaghi is expecting a difficult test against "one of the best teams in Europe" when Arsenal visit the San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

  Arsenal come into the encounter against the reigning Serie A champions on the back of a defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend. 

  Mikel Arteta's side have now lost two of their last three league games, having tasted defeat just once in their 25 games in the top-flight (W21 D3) in 2024. 

  But Inzaghi, who helped Inter keep pace at the Serie A summit with a controversial 1-0 win over Venezia, is expecting a reaction from the Gunners. 

  "We are facing one of the best teams in Europe, very recognisable with a great coach," Inzaghi said.

  "We all know how the big teams react after a defeat. Look at us after the derby... You find teams out for redress.

  "I saw the match between Arsenal and Newcastle. Playing at Newcastle's home is not easy, but it was an open and fascinating match.

  "We will find a team that lost two-and-a-half days ago, they will want to play a great game at San Siro."

  Inter lost the Derby della Madonnina 2-1 to Milan in September, but have since gone on to win seven of their eight games in all competitions. 

  Inzaghi's side are just ahead of Arsenal in the Champions League table, with both teams picking up seven points from their opening three games. 

  The two sides have only met previously in the 2003-04 Champions League – both games were away wins (Arsenal 0-3 Inter, Inter 1-5 Arsenal).

  While history favours the visiting side, Inzaghi has said his side will try to dominate possession against Arsenal in order to remain unbeaten in the competition. 

  "If you see Arsenal among 100 teams, without knowing the name, you recognise them. They played for the last two English titles, point for point with Manchester City," he said.

  "We will have to try to keep the ball as much as possible, we know that we are facing a team that put on a lot of offensive pressure.

  "We know that it will be a problem for us when they have the ball but the opposite is also true."

  Arsenal have also struggled in recent games in the Champions League in Italy, failing to find the back of the net in their last four away games in the country. 

  Emmanuel Adebayor was the last Gunners player to score there in a 2-0 win over Milan in March 2008, and Inter will be confident of keeping it that way. 

  Although only five teams have faced more shots in the Champions League this season than Inter (53), they have kept three clean sheets so far.