Russian talisman Andrei Kirilenko has fired a shot across the bows of Serbia & Montenegro by playing down the European champions' chances of retaining their title.

The two sides meet in a Group C clash on Friday, the first day of the championships.

Serbia & Montenegro, the class of Europe the past two years after winning both the Eurobasket in Turkey and the World Championships last summer, are missing some of the key figures on those teams.

Vlade Divac, the Sacramento Kings centre, and Spanish-based professionals Dejan Bodiroga and Dejan Tomasevic are perhaps the three biggest absentees from those squads.

The talented 6ft 9in (205 cm) Utah Jazz forward Kirilenko said in a candid interview in the Russian newspaper "Sport-Express": "I don't think that Serbia will become the European Champions this time.

"Their current team isn't as strong as it was in Indianapolis.

"They have very strong players - (Predrag) Stojakovic, (Milan) Gurovic, (Milos) Vujanic. But they have problems with "big" guys."

It's a risky business telling the world champions they aren't going to win, but the great Russian is convinced after facing them in the Efes Pilsen World Cup II tournament in Istanbul that that is the case.

He says that that game, won 98-92 by Serbia & Montenegro, showed why the reigning champions won't win, while offering proof that his side can.

"(Centre Predrag) Drobnjak isn't in good form, (Dejan) Koturovic plays unstable and the rest of the players don't meet the level of the team," he said.

Drobnjak played just five minutes and scored two points, while Koturovic had six points in 15 minutes.

Kirilenko finished with a game-high 27 points and eight rebounds, but played almost the entire contest.

"Our game against Serbia in Istanbul showed that we can play on a level with any team," he said.

"Honestly speaking, our players are having problems on offence.

"The coaches are giving us a lot of different combinations and explaining them but our young players don't understand that we must play in an organised way when we have the ball.

"If we are going to be successful, it depends mostly on defence.

"Sometimes we play defence like in the NBA, and I know what I'm talking about...if we play well, we can even win the championship."