The Champions League returns this evening, with gameweek two matches taking place over the next two nights. Here is the pick of those Champions League encounters:
Juventus v Bayer Leverkusen (Tuesday, kick-off 8 PM)
Italian giants Juventus will be looking to pick up their first Champions League win of the season when they host Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night at the Allianz Stadium.
Atletico Madrid held the Bianconeri to a 2-2 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano in gameweek one. The result was not a major surprise, as the trip to Madrid always looked the hardest game of the group for Maurizio Sarri’s team.
The two-time European champions will be confident of getting back to winning ways in this clash, though. Despite being a team looked upon as potential winners of the Champions League, they have won just once in six European matches.
Even their usual strong home form has slipped of late in Europe’s elite competition, as they have won just four of their last eight home outings in the Champions League. Sarri’s team are big favourites to record a victory.
Bayer Leverkusen suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat against Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow on matchday one. Things do not get any easier for the visitors with a trip to Turin.
Peter Bosz’s team has made a mixed start to the campaign. However, they head into this clash on the back of two straight wins at least. Like their hosts, Bayer’s recent record in this competition is poor, as they have won just one of their last five games in the Champions League while winning just two of their last 14 matches in Europe’s elite competition.
However, they are undefeated in five away games in the competition, although four of those games have finished all-square.
Liverpool v RB Salzburg (Wednesday, Kick-off 8 PM)
Despite their dominant start to the Premier League season, Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat at Napoli in gameweek one of this seasons Champions League.
However, the European champions have won three games in all competitions since the loss in Naples. Jurgen Klopp’s side will be highly confident of getting their first European victory of the season against the visitors.
The European champions’ recent record is not that great in this competition, as they have now won two and lost two of their last four Champions League matches. However, the Merseysider’s have a good recent record on home soil in this competition, as they are unbeaten in 14 European games at Anfield, winning seven of their last eight games.
Salzburg head to Merseyside having made a very strong start to their domestic campaign. However, it was their 6-2 home hammering of Genk in gameweek one that caught everybody’s attention. A Champions League debut hat-trick from highly-rated youngster Erling Haland was the biggest talking point. The forward will be looking to add to his already burgeoning goal tally for the campaign.
The victory over Genk last time out means that the Austrian team have not lost in 15 Champions League games in normal time. The majority of those games were preliminary rounds, but it is still a respectable record for the visitors.
This week’s other Champions League games (8 pm Kick-off unless stated)
Tuesday
Real Madrid v Club Brugge (Kick-off 5.55 PM)
Atalanta v Shakhtar Donetsk (Kick-off 5.55 PM)
Galatasaray v PSG
FK Crvena Zvezda v Olympiakos
Manchester City v Dinamo Zagreb
Lokomotiv Moscow v Atletico Madrid
Wednesday
Genk v Napoli (Kick-off 5.55 PM)
Slavia Prague v Dortmund (Kick-off 5.55 PM)
Zenit St. Petersburg v Benfica
RB Leipzig v Lyon
Lille v Chelsea
Valencia v Ajax
Where will the big story of gameweek two of the Champions League happen?
