Champions League Matchday Two Preview

A second week of world-class football in the UEFA Champions League’s League Phase is set to begin on Tuesday night, and here we look ahead at the action to come.

The highly anticipated Matchday Two of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase is going to be getting underway on Tuesday evening. There are going to be as many as 18 fixtures being played across the continent of Europe in the most prestigious cup competition in club football.

Juventus, Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Sporting CP, Sparta Praha, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Paris Saint Germain, Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, AS Monaco, and Brest were all victorious on Matchday One.

Two of the four English Clubs earned all three points in their opening game, whilst Manchester City and Arsenal played in draws against Inter Milan and Atalanta respectively.

Ahead of the second round of the second round of Champions League action, all of the teams that won on matchday one are joint top of the League. Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich are top of the tree thanks to their superior goal difference. Celtic sit just behind the Bavarian heavyweights in 2ndplace, whilst Aston Villa and Liverpool sit in 4th and 7thplace in the League Phase respectively. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are among the clubs sitting in joint 16thplace.

These are very early days for all clubs, as they all look to earn what would be a simply vital three points to see them take a step closer to a place in the Round of 16 in this season’s competition.

Here, with a focus on the British Club, we take a look ahead at the action to come on Matchday Two of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League’s League Phase.

Arsenal (England) vs. Paris Saint Germain (France) – Emirates Stadium, Tuesday 1st October, 20:00 KO:

First up in this preview is Arsenal, who in their first game in this season’s competition played out a 0 – 0 draw with Italian Serie A side Atalanta away from home at the Gewiss Stadium. The result nonetheless handed them what could turn out to be a crucial point come the end of the League Phase.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta will be leading his side into their second match of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League at the Emirates Stadium where they will be facing the reigning French Champions Paris Saint-Germain. This is one of the most high profile clashes in the whole league phase between two clubs who will feel that they have a great chance of going all the way in this season’s competition.

Overall, the two clubs have met face to face in a competitive fixture in all competitions a total of 4 times, with the two clubs having drawn against each other 3 times, with Arsenal claiming the only win in this fixture to date.

Below are the highlights from Arsenal’s most recent victory in all competitions against their Parisian counterparts, beating PSG 1 – 0 at Highbury in the second leg of their European Cup Winners’ Cup Semi Final tie on 12th April 1994. The Gunners got the winning goal through a strike from Kevin Campbell.

Arsenal went on to win the competition after beating Italy’s Parma 1 – 0 at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) vs. Manchester City (England) – Tehelné pole, Tuesday 1st October, 20:00 KO:

Next up is Manchester City, and like with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola’s side drew in their opening game of their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase campaign at the Etihad Stadium against Inter Milan, which saw the reigning Champions of England and Italy play out a 0 – 0 stalemate.

Their next challenge in the Champions League this season will see them make the trip to Bratislava, the Capital of Slovakia, to face Slovan Bratislava at the Tehelné Pole (National Football Stadium). It will be an intriguing and enthralling contest that the Cityzens will be expected to win.

These two clubs are yet to meet in any competition, so this tie between the Champions of Slovakia and the reigning Champions of England are set to go toe to toe in what is set to be a historic and crucial tie in their respective League Phase campaigns.

Borussia Dortmund (Germany) vs. Celtic (Scotland) – Signal Iduna Park, Tuesday 1st October, 20:00 KO:

The last British Club to play on Tuesday on Matchday Two is Celtic, who will be making the trip to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to face Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night.

This follows a superb performance in their opening League Phase fixture at Celtic Park on Matchday One, which saw them beat the aforementioned Slovan Bratislava 5 – 1 in Glasgow. Liam Scales (17’), Kyogo Furuhashi (47’), Arne Engels (56’ – Penalty), Daizen Maeda (70’), and Adam Idah (87’) all found the back of the net for the Bhoys. Former Spurs and Stoke City central defender Kevin Wimmer scored the only goal of the game for Slovan Bratislava that day.

These two clubs are yet to meet in any competition, so this tie between the Champions of Slovakia and the reigning Champions of England are set to go toe to toe in what is set to be a historic and crucial tie in their respective League Phase campaigns.

Liverpool (England) vs. Bologna (Italy) – Anfield, Wednesday 2nd October, 20:00 KO:

Onto Wednesday, and Liverpool will be going toe to toe with Bologna of the Italian Serie A at Anfield in a 20:00 KO. The Reds will be looking for a second set of three points to take them closer to securing qualification for the Round of 16 in the 2024/25 Champions League. Arne Slot and his team are also amongst the favourites to go all the way and win the final, as they look to lift the famous trophy for the seventh time in their history.

Liverpool were superb last time out in their first UEFA Champions League League Phase contest at the San Siro in their opening matchday, beating AC Milan 3 – 1 away from home on the night thanks to goals from Ibrahima Konate (23’), Virgil Van Dijk (41’), and Dominik Szoboszlai (67’). Former Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic scored the sole goal for the hosts, giving the hosts Milan the early lead (3’).

This is set to be the inaugural contest between Arne Slot’s Reds and their Italian counterparts Bologna. All eyes will be on Anfield for what looks set to be an enthralling tie with Liverpool looking for a second successive 2024/25 League Phase victory, which would most certainly bring them a step closer to their ultimate goal of automatically reaching the Round of 16.

Aston Villa (England) vs. Bayern Munich (Germany) – Villa Park, Wednesday 2nd October, 20:00 KO:

We now move on to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who are going to face German Bundesliga Giants Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 1982 European Cup Final at Villa Park in an 8pm kick-off in B6 on Wednesday night.

The Villans opened their Champions League campaign last time out on Matchday One with a trip to the Swiss City of Bern to face BSC Young Boys, who are currently the reigning Champions of Switzerland. Villa won 3 – 0, with Youri Tielemans (27’), Jacob Ramsey (38’), and Amadou Onana (86’) all finding the back of the net for the away side.

These two teams did of course meet most famously in the 1982 European Cup Final, which coincidentally is their only competitive meeting in any competition before they face each other again at Villa Park on Wednesday night. In their inaugural meeting, the winning goal was famously scored by Peter Withe barely more than twenty minutes of normal time remaining in the match (67’).

Re-live that famous night in Rotterdam below:

Other UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 Fixtures:

Below are the other matches that are going to be played over the course of this week on the second matchday of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League’s League Phase:

• RB Salzburg (Austria) vs. Brest (France) – Red Bull Arena Salzburg, Tuesday 1st October – 17:45 KO.
• Stuttgart (Germany) vs. Sparta Praha (Czech Republic) – MHP Arena, Tuesday 1st October – 17:45 KO.
• Inter Milan (Italy) vs. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) – San Siro, Tuesday 1st October – 20:00 KO.
• FC Barcelona (Spain) vs. BSC Young Boys (Switzerland) – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Tuesday 1st October – 20:00 KO.
• Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) vs. AC Milan (Italy) – BayArena, Tuesday 1st October – 20:00 KO.
• PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) vs. Sporting CP (Portugal) – Philips Stadion, Tuesday 1st October – 20:00 KO.
• Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs. Atalanta (Italy) – Veltins Arena, Wednesday 2nd October – 17:45 KO.
• Girona (Spain) vs. Feyenoord (Netherlands) – Estadi Montilivi, Wednesday 2nd October – 17:45 KO.
• RB Leipzig (Germany) vs. Juventus (Italy) – Red Bull Arena, Wednesday 2nd October – 20:00 KO.
• Benfica (Portugal) vs. Atletico Madrid (Spain) – Estadio da Luz, Wednesday 2nd October – 20:00 KO.
• Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) vs. AS Monaco (France) – Stadion Maksimir, Wednesday 2nd October – 20:00 KO.
• LOSC Lille (France) vs. Real Madrid (Spain) – Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Wednesday 2nd October – 20:00 KO.
• SK Sturm Graz (Austria) vs. Club Brugge (Belgium) – Merkur Arena, Wednesday 2nd October – 20:00 KO.

There is plenty of excitement and anticipation ahead of these blockbuster matches across Europe in the League Phase of the highly coveted UEFA Champions League this season. There are plenty of high profile clashes, and each game is sure to bring with it an incredible atmosphere and some superb action for fans across the world to enjoy.

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