We are almost at the halfway stage of this year’s Champions League group stage as Wednesday provides another instalment of mouth-watering clashes in Europe’s premier competition.
There are eight games to feast your eyes on with last year’s champions Manchester City in action, more drama from Newcastle United’s ‘group of death’ and Barcelona looking for a third straight European victory before El Clasico this weekend.
With loads of action on your TV, here is a rundown of Wednesday’s Champions League fixtures.
Lazio have been the masters of late drama in this year’s Champions League.
On matchday one, Maurizio Sarri’s side needed a 95th-minute equaliser from goalkeeper (yes, goalkeeper) Ivan Provedel against Atletico Madrid, while a strike from Pedro in the same minute of the Italian side’s clash with Celtic last time out earned them three points in Glasgow.
A trip to Feyenoord will be a difficult proposition for Sarri’s men, especially given how many problems the Dutch side caused Atletico Madrid in a 3-2 defeat before the international break. Arne Slot’s men are currently third in the Eredivisie and their Champions League group, but a victory could see them finish the evening at the top of the table in Europe.
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An injury-stricken Barcelona squad will be aiming to make it a clean sweep of victories in Group H when they welcome Shakhtar to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. Playing away from Camp Nou while it’s being renovated, the La Liga champions will feel confident of maintaining their unbeaten start to the season.
17-year-old La Masia product Marc Guiu was the hero against Athletic Club at the weekend, scoring the winner with only his second touch for the Catalan side. Whether Xavi will reward him with some European minutes remains to be seen.
Shakhtar are not to be underestimated though. The Ukrainian outfit picked up a thrilling 3-2 win over Royal Antwerp last time out, coming from two goals down to claim their first European points of the season.
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Despite conceding a late equaliser to Lazio in their first group stage encounter, Atletico got back to winning ways against Feyenoord. A 3-2 victory came courtesy of an Alvaro Morata brace and an acrobatic Antoine Griezmann effort, but they were made to work by the Dutch side having twice fallen behind.
One of the form sides in European football, Atletico will be strong favourites for Celtic’s visit given they have won their last six matches in all competitions.
Celtic have been relatively impressive in Group E so far, but two defeats have left them in a perilous position. A five-minute red card double against Feyenoord proved unhelpful in a 2-0 defeat in Rotterdam and the concession of a stoppage-time winner to Lazio most recently has left Brendan Rodgers’ side with a mountain to climb.
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Fresh from their greatest European night after thrashing Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 at St. James’ Park before the international break, Newcastle supporters will be excited to welcome Borussia Dortmund to Tyneside.
The Magpies currently sit atop Group F having picked up four points from their opening two games, with home victories in this tantalisingly competitive group essential for Eddie Howe’s side. Newcastle put another four goals past last weekend’s opponents Crystal Palace and, even with the potential absence of Sandro Tonali, they have found a rich vein of form at just the right moment.
Dortmund have been somewhat flying under the radar with some strong performances and results in five successive Bundesliga wins, with Edin Terzic’s only defeat of the season coming to PSG on matchday one.
However, having endured an unconvincing goalless draw with Milan in their most recent European encounter, Dortmund are still searching for a first win in the group stage.
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A comfortable victory over Dortmund in their Champions League opener has bought Luis Enrique a little breathing room despite PSG’s humbling at St James’ Park. However, dropping points against Milan is not an option.
The French champions’ plodding start to the campaign has been more enjoyable in their two most recent Ligue 1 encounters, putting three past Rennes and Strasbourg in commanding wins. Despite those victories, PSG remain third in the league table, sitting behind the impressive Nice and Monaco.
Milan have the potential to cause PSG plenty of problems despite the fact that they are yet to score a goal in Europe this season. Two draws arguably should have been two wins, while a weekend defeat to Juventus won’t have done confidence much good ahead of a crunch clash in Paris.
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TNT Sports 4, discovery+, discovery+ App |
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In what appears one of the more easy Champions League groups to predict, RB Leipzig play host to Serbian side Red Star on Wednesday evening. Both of the German side’s European matches have finished 3-1 in Group G – an opening game victory against Young Boys and a recent defeat to Man City.
Marco Rose’s side have been in largely strong form this season so far, getting a first win in four against Darmstadt at the weekend. A brace for Lois Openda and a goal for Emil Forsberg claimed all three points, moving Leipzig five points off table-topping Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
Red Star needed an 88th-minute equaliser from Osman Bukari to grab a hard-fought point at home to Young Boys on matchday two, having suffered defeat to Man City in their opener. The Ghanaian attacker now has two goals in Europe this season, but will be missing for the trip to Germany.
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All four matches in Group G have contained exactly four goals so far and you wouldn’t bet against Man City scoring as many when they play Young Boys on Wednesday. The champions have beaten Leipzig and Red Star 3-1 each and are yet to get out of second gear in Europe.
Erling Haaland is still looking for his first Champions League goal of the season having now failed to score in five straight European matches, while Man City are looking to extend their unbeaten run on the continent to 17 games.
Young Boys earned a famous victory over Manchester United at the Wankdorf Stadium two seasons ago, but one would imagine that lightning will not strike twice when their city rivals travel to Bern.
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It’s been a baptism of fire for Royal Antwerp in their debut Champions League campaign, starting with a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona on matchday one. The Belgian champions then followed that up with a devastating 3-2 home defeat to Shakhtar, throwing away a two-goal lead and missing a 98th-minute penalty to level the scores.
Porto made a much stronger start than Wednesday’s opponents, beating Shakhtar 3-1 at the Estadio do Drago before an unfortunate and narrow 1-0 defeat to Barca. The 2004 Champions League winners will be favourites for their trip to Antwerp, with the hosts knowing they need a victory to keep their slim qualification hopes alive.
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