Chelsea's bid to win the Champions League begins in earnest against Sparta Prague on Tuesday -- but as ever coach Claudio Ranieri is playing down their chances.

 Despite an investment of over 110 million pounds ($176.5 million) by new owner Roman Abramovich since he took over the London club two months ago, Ranieri says Chelsea are not yet ready to challenge for Europe's biggest prize.

 Chelsea have little recent European pedigree and Ranieri says until his side get used to playing together they will be outsiders compared with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the big Italian teams.

 "Chelsea have good players but we must fight to be a team like them," he said.

 Chelsea won the now defunct European Cup Winners Cup in 1998 and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in their first appearance in 1999/2000, losing to Barcelona under Gianluca Vialli but they have been bundled out of the UEFA Cup by lowly teams for the last three seasons.

 "We are starting again. We must build a new history. Maybe the bad luck is past," Ranieri says.

 But many of his expensive signings have arrived with a wealth of Champions League experience -- Juan Sebastian Veron from Manchester United, Hernan Crespo from Inter Milan (and previously Lazio) and Claude Makelele from Real Madrid.

 Ranieri said he wanted to combine the astute tactics of the Italians who stop the opposition from playing their natural game, the ball possession of the Spanish and the spirit of the English in his Champions League side.

 With such an embarrassment of talent it is difficult to know what team will get the nod. Romanian Adrian Mutu has scored four times in three premier league games for his new side but may start from the bench after picking up bruises in the 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

 UPHILL BATTLE

 Meanwhile, Sparta know they face an uphill battle on Tuesday. Despite being a perennial powerhouse at home, winning six of the last seven domestic titles, Sparta have spluttered in European play for the most part.

 This season the team has looked sluggish, taking only 10 points from the first seven games, including a dispiriting 2-0 away loss at the weekend to Liberec.

 "The Champions League matches and the domestic league matches have nothing in common. We have nothing to lose in the Champions League," says Sparta coach Jiri Kotrba.

 In-form midfielder Karel Poborsky, the only Sparta player with English premier league experience after a stint with Manchester United, knows the quality his team faces.

 One of the most important acquisitions, he said, was Argentina midfielder Veron, an old team mate of his at Lazio.

 "Veron is one of the best midfielders in the game right now. Technically, he's strong and he's got a lot of onfield presence," he said.

 Sparta's main absentee is playmaker Lukas Zelenka, who missed the Champions League qualifiers with a broken collar bone and is still not fully match fit.

 Probable teams" Sparta Prague: 29-Jaromir Blazek; 19-Martin Petras, 18-Tomas Huebschman, 17-Petr Johana, 26-Martin Zboncak; 8-Karel Poborsky, 20-Jiri Nemec, 15-Radoslav Kovac, 10-Rastislav Michalik; 27-Igor Gluscevic, 21-Tomas Jun

 Chelsea: 23-Carlo Cudicini, 6-Marcel Desailly, 13-William Gallas, 26-John Terry, 18-Wayne Bridge; 11-Damien Duff, 4-Claude Makelele, 20-Juan Sebastian Veron, 8-Frank Lampard, 21-Hernan Crespo, 9-Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink or 7-Adrian Mutu

 Referee: Helmut Fleischer (Germany) 

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