STATS Perform/dpaBerlin Jules Kounde warned Barcelona are ready to strike a brutal blow to at least one European titan in the Champions League after landing in this season’s ‘group of death’.Drawn to face Bayern Munich, Inter and Viktoria Plzen in Group C, it is the German and Italian giants that Barcelona will be most worried about.The Catalans start their campaign against Czech side Plzen on Wednesday, when nothing but a home victory at Camp Nou will be an acceptable result, given the challenges to come.Barcelona, Inter and Bayern all begin as trophy hopefuls, but one or even two of the trio will have been eliminated by the time the World Cup comes around in November.Kounde, recruited from Sevilla to fortify Xavi’s defence, is determined Barcelona will not be among the early fallers.He said of the European mission that lies ahead: “I play football to enjoy these big matches. It is true that it is a very difficult group. But Barca carry a big threat and they have to take us seriously. We think we have many options to get out of the group.“To begin with, we have to beat Viktoria no matter what, because they are three points equal to the matchday against Bayern.” Kounde, 23, was a Europa League winner with Sevilla in the 2019-20 season.
