The Champions League is back. Starting this Tuesday, the ball will start to run in the most important competition at club level and the emotion is always present when it comes to seeing 32 of the most outstanding clubs of the old continent, which this year will seek seize the throne from Chelsea from Thomas Tuchel, a team that was crowned champion, for the second time in its history, after beating Manchester City in Lisbon by the minimum, thanks to a goal from Kai Havertz.
In this edition there will be many surprises, news and teams that will seek at all costs to take over the ‘Orejona’. The group stage, in any case, will be more exciting than ever and the teams will seek to stay with first place to avoid a much more complicated draw in the final phase. Between now and December there is a lot, but for now We review how the 32 clubs arrive at the opening matches:
Group A: City and PSG, favorites
The death group matches will be played on Wednesday 15, both at 9:00 p.m. The PSG of superstars, with Leo Messi, Neymar or Kylian Mbappé will visit Club Brugge. In the previous one, Mauricio Pochettino’s men thrashed Clermont, with ‘Donatello’ in stellar mode. For its part, the Belgian team beat Ostend 3-0.
The second clash, between the Manchester City y RB Leipzig, is one of the most attractive matches of the day. This weekend, Pep Guardiola’s men beat Leicister City by the minimum, while the Germans fell goals 1-4 against Bayern Munich.
Group B: Historic Team Crashes
Group B (Wednesday 15, 9:00 p.m.) also has two of the favorite teams to take the title, such as the Liverpool and Atlético, but also a Porto that always complicates his rivals and a AC Milan who is back in Europe and wants to fight. The Spanish will receive the Portuguese at the Wanda Metropolitano after having won ‘in extremis’ and with much controversy at Espanyol (1-2), while Porto drew against Sporting de Portugal.
The other confrontation, between Liverpool and AC Milan, comes after victories by both teams in the previous one. The English beat Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds 0-3, while the San Siro defeated Lazio 2-0, with a Zlatan Ibrahimovic who at 39 is still intractable. Duel of two historic teams in Europe.
Group C: Dortmund and Ajax … Candidates?
The clashes of the first day of group C will be this Wednesday. Miralem Pjanic’s Besiktas will host Borussia Dortmund who have Erling Haaland ‘on fire’. The Germans beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-4, while the Turkish side thrashed Yeni Malatyaspor. On the other hand, the Sporting de Portugal welcomes Ajax after having stayed in a draw in the Portuguese Football Classic (1-1), while the Dutch ended their visit to Zwolle with victory (0-2).
Group D: Old acquaintances
The ‘reunion’ in group D will be played on Wednesday 15. FC Sheriff and Shakhtar Donetsk will open the day at 6:45 p.m. The Moldovans come from beating Petrocub (2-0) and will seek to surprise a Shakhtar who beat Dnipro (2-0). At 9:00 p.m. on the same day, Inter and Real Madrid will face each other at Giuseppe Meazza. The Italians ‘punctured’ this weekend against Sampdoria (2-2), while those of Carlo Ancelotti settled their return to the Santiago Bernabéu with a landslide, with ‘little hand’ and comeback against Celta de Vigo (5-2).
Group E: Clash of the Titans
The FC Barcelona group will face each other this Tuesday, at 9:00 p.m. Ronald Koeman’s men host Bayern Munich after three weeks without matches, after the match against Sevilla on the fourth day of LaLiga was postponed due to the national team break. For its part, Bayern are still fearsome in Europe and also in the Bundesliga, especially after having managed to beat RB Leipzig this weekend (1-4).
The other party, which faces Benfica and Dynamo Kiev, comes after the Portuguese team, leader of their national classification, beat Santa Clara with a resounding 0-5. The Ukrainians finally beat Metalist 1925 0-2 to lead their league.
Group F: Euphoria by Cristiano
This Tuesday also the clashes of group F. The Young Boys receive Manchester United at home at 6:45 pm amid the euphoria for the return of ‘CR7’ to his house. The Swiss arrive after beating Zurich 4-0, while the ‘Red Devils’ thrashed Newcastle (4-1) with a double from Cristiano, who is still unleashed at 36 years of age.
Villarreal is in the same situation as Barça and Sevilla, without having played for three weeks. He will receive Atalanta, at 9:00 p.m., after the Italian team lost in Serie A against Fiorentina (1-2).
Group G: No clear favorites?
Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla, who did not play this weekend in LaLiga, receives RB Salzburg from Austria at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, this Tuesday from 6:45 p.m. The Austrians come from beating Swaroski Tirol by 1-3 to be leaders of their League. Wolfsburg, intractable at the start of the Bundesliga, host the current Ligue 1 champions at 9:00 p.m., after beating Greuther Fürth 0-2. The French, for their part, were defeated on Friday by Lorient 2-1.
Group H: The champion returns
The current ‘king’ of Europe will debut in the Champions League this Tuesday at 9:00 p.m., when rHe will host Zenit at Stamford Bridge. Thomas Tuchel’s men won this weekend against Aston Villa, with a double from Romelu Lukaku. The Russians also beat FK Achmat 3-1. At the same time, a Juventus in crisis visits Malmö after adding his third consecutive game without winning. The ‘bianconeri’ were traced back by Naples and ended up falling 2-1 this Saturday. The Swedes also punctured, 1-1, against Norrköping.
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