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While fellow Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid, Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad chase Champions League glory, FC Barcelona kicks off its European campaign in obscurity against provincial Slovak team SKM Puchov after missing out on the continent's elite club competition for the first time in seven years.

Ronaldinho and Co. will no doubt feel out of place in Wednesday's first-round UEFA Cup match against a club that was only promoted to the Slovak first division three years ago and has no trophies to its credit.

Barcelona knows it will be the target for an upset. But losing points to a team whose annual budget is US$1 million - 34 times less than the value of Ronaldinho - would rank among the biggest shocks in soccer history.

Puchov has never played a major European club and its stadium holds just 6,600 spectators, with the most expensive league tickets selling for 1.30.

The club has decided to move the match to an 18,000-seat venue in the nearby town of Trnava to allow more spectators to see the match, but the capacity is still nowhere near that of Barca's 100,000-seat Nou Camp, regarded by many as the cathedral of European soccer.

The 16-time Spanish champion has declared it wants to win the UEFA Cup after failing to take any silverware last season, the club's worst in decades, and star players like Luis Enrique Martinez and Javier Saviola claim they'll have no problem with motivation against the Slovak minnows.

``Our goal is the same as it would be in the Champions League: winning every match, no matter where we play,'' Luis Enrique said.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has only one major injury problem for Wednesday's game.

Dutch international midfielder Philip Cocu was taken off toward the end of Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Osasuna with tendinitis in his left leg and is doubtful. Barcelona's summer signing from Monaco, Mexican international Rafael Marquez is on stand-by. The only other absentee is long-term injured left back Fernando Navarro.

Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta and Spanish international forward Luis Garcia have recently recovered from the injuries which caused them to miss the start of the season and have been be included in the traveling party for Puchov.

Rijkaard admitted his team's display against Osasuna had been poor.

``It's obvious that we didn't play well. We can't be happy because we didn't do our job properly,'' said Rijkaard, who's planning to start Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber for the first time since his summer transfer from Fenerbahce.

The only consolation for Barcelona is that it remains unbeaten in its four league games this season.

Rijkaard hinted that on Wednesday there may be a place for the club's two wingers, Dutchman Marc Overmars and Portuguese Ricardo Quaresma, who came on as substitutes in the second half and improved the team's performance.

``With the changes we made, at least we became more attacking, increased the pace of the game and gained more possession. That was a good sign and we have to take note of this,'' Rijkaard said.

Puchov, which finished second in the 10-team Slovak league last season, is in disarray after a disastrous start to the season that saw it slip to eighth place with a 3-1-5 record.

``We're in a crisis,'' assistant coach Stefan Tomanek said after last weekend's 1-0 league loss to Banska Bystrica. ``We've dug ourselves a deep hole and can't get out.''

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