The UEFA Champions League group stages are upon us and here we preview the first round of matches this week.
Europe’s premier club competition is back for another blockbuster campaign of entertaining football as we embark on the road to the final in Istanbul on June 10th next year. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium is set to host a Champions League final for the first time since 2005 when Liverpool came from three goals down to win the final on penalties against AC Milan.
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Among Tuesday’s eye-catching games we see Paris St-Germain face Juventus in Group H. PSG and Juve have not met in a competitive matchup since the 1996 UEFA Super Cup when the latter stormed to a 9-2 aggregate win. 25 years later and Juventus currently finds itself in a lull, with this the third season since the Old Lady last won the Scudetto after clinching nine consecutive Serie A titles.
PSG, meanwhile, appointed Christophe Galtier as the club’s fourth new manager since 2016 and the Parisians have taken five wins and a draw from their opening six games in Ligue 1 this term. Lionel Messi will be looking to make some ground on Cristiano Ronaldo’s record 140 goals in the Champions League with the Portuguese absent from this season’s competition. Messi is set to play in a 19th consecutive UCL campaign and he has scored 125 goals in 156 appearances.
Angel Di María returns to the French capital having recently left after seven years as a PSG player. PariAdrien Rabiot also makes a comeback to the club where he began his senior career before leaving for Turin in 2019.
The corresponding fixture in Group H sees Benfica entertain Maccabi Haifa of Israel.
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Elsewhere, Celtic host UCL holders Real Madrid in a first meeting between the two clubs for 42 years. Group F pits the Spanish champions against their Scottish counterparts, with RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk completing the group.
The competition’s defending champions from three of the past four seasons have won their opening game of the subsequent campaigns. Carlo Ancelotti will be striving for his side to maintain this pattern, albeit Los Blancos lost two of their last three Champions League openers.
Karim Benzema is fresh off scooping the prize for UEFA Men’s Player of the Year after he scored 15 goals to guide Real to a record 14th European title, whilst Ancelotti walked away with the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year award.
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Wednesday features a clash of two heavyweights as Inter Milan host Bayern Munich. These European giants have previously met five times in this competition, most significantly in the 2010 final when José Mourinho’s Inter triumphed over Louis van Gaal’s men to complete a historic treble for the Nerazzurri.
Their most recent encounter came the following season in the Round of 16 where Inter once again came out on top, advancing on away goals. Bayern will be out to address their shortcomings from 11 years ago and the Bavarians’ new forward Sadio Mané is eager to hit the ground running and add to his 24 Champions League goals for Liverpool.
This year Group C is being touted as the ‘group of death’, with a resurgent Barcelona also in the mix with Bayern and Inter. La Blaugrana open their European campaign at home to Czechia outfit Viktoria Plzen.
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Also on Wednesday, Napoli take on Liverpool as these sides prepare to meet in the group stage for a third time in five years. Napoli took 4 points from then-holders Liverpool, winning 2-0 in Naples before a 1-1 draw at Anfield when they last shared a group in the 2019/20 season.
Jurgen Klopp faces a substantial injury crisis with midfielders Jordan Henderson, Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all ruled out while Thiago Alcantara is doubtful for the Reds’ trip to Italy. Defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Joel Matip also face spells on the sidelines.
The other game in Group A sees Ajax tackle Rangers.
UCL matchweek 1 fixtures:
Viewers are certain to be treated to heaps of goals when considering there have been at least 2.75 goals scored during the opening matchweek in each of the past seven seasons. The ball found the back of the net 44 times in matchweek 1 last year, 49 times in 2020 and 45 times the year before.
Not for the first time, Manchester City are tipped as favourites to win the Champions League and the bookies have Pep Guardiola’s troops at 3.50 to capture the club’s first European cup. PSG and Liverpool are listed 6.00 and 6.50, respectively, while Bayern Munich are at 7.50. Real Madrid are priced 11.00 to retain their crown and Barcelona are at 15.00 to win its first continental title since 2015.
1.83 are the odds of a Premier League team emerging triumphant in the Champions League, 5.50 for a Spanish club to win it, 6.00 for a French team and 6.50 for the victors to be from Germany.
Priced at 4.00, Man City striker Erling Haaland is the leading contender to end as top scorer in the Champions League this term. Benzema and countryman Kylian Mbappé are each 8.00 to score the most goals, with Robert Lewandowski 10.00 and Messi 11.00.
