Champions League Matchday One Preview

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League’s League Phase gets underway on Tuesday evening, and here we take a look at the fixtures involving British clubs as well as the rest of this week’s action.

The UEFA Champions League is widely seen as the most prestigious club competition in all of Europe, and the 2024/25 edition of this highly prestigious tournament is set to get underway with the League Phase on Tuesday evening. Here, we are going to take a look at the fixtures involving the British clubs, and we will also take a look at the other fixtures taking place this week.

The five British clubs taking part, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Celtic, have won the European Cup/Champions League a total of 9 times between them. Liverpool has won it the most times of any club in Britain with 6 in total, with Villa, City, and Celtic all having one win each. The Gunners are yet to win this competition, but they are seen as among the leading contenders this season.

Liverpool’s wins came in 1977 (3 – 1 vs. Borussia Monchengladbach), 1978 (1 – 0 vs. Club Brugge), 1981 (1 – 0 vs. Real Madrid), 1984 (4 – 2 on penalties vs. Roma), 2005 (3 – 2 on penalties vs. AC Milan), and most recently in 2019 (2 – 0 vs. Spurs). Villa were crowned champions of Europe in 1982 (1 – 0 vs. Bayern Munich), whilst City and Celtic’s wins came in 2023 (1 – 0 vs. Inter Milan) and 1967 (2 – 1 vs. Inter Milan) respectively.

We will now take a look at the fixtures to come for the British Clubs in Matchday One of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League’s League Phase.

Young Boys (Switzerland) vs. Aston Villa (England) – Tuesday 17th September, 17:45 KO

We start with a trip to Bern, Switzerland for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who are set to open their Champions League campaign against Young Boys, who are led by their Swiss Head Coach Patrick Rahmen.

The 32,000 capacity Wankdorf Stadium is set to host this high-profile League Phase opener, where an enthralling contest is in store.

Emery’s Villans will be seeking all three points to get their campaign in this competition off to the best possible start in what is the Birmingham Club’s first campaign at the top level of European Football since they were the holders of the competition back in the 1982/83 season.

This will be the first time that Young Boys and Aston Villa have ever met in the UEFA Champions League or any other competition.

AC Milan (Italy) vs. Liverpool (England) – Tuesday 17th September, 20:00 KO

We now move on to one of the most high-profile matches of the entire League Phase, which will see a replay of the 2005 Champions League Final take place between AC Milan and Liverpool at the iconic San Siro on Tuesday evening.

That final saw the Italian outfit go 3 – 0 up in the first half through Paolo Maldini (1’) and Hernan Crespo (39’, 44’). The Reds then came back in style in the second half thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard (54’), Vladimir Smicer (56’), and Xabi Alonso (61’). The Reds then won 3 – 2 on penalties in the end in what was a historic and famous final in Istanbul.

As one of the favourites to win the competition this season, Arne Slot’s Reds will look to make a statement with a win against the Rossoneri, which would also see them get their campaign off to the best possible start.

Aside from the 2005 Final, these two European Giants have met on 3 other occasions in this competition. Liverpool did the double over AC Milan in the Group Stages of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League, beating their Italian counterparts 3 – 2 at Anfield before beating them 2 – 1 at the San Siro. The Reds’ only defeat against them was in the 2007 Final.

Manchester City (England) vs. Inter Milan (Italy) – Wednesday 18th September, 20:00 KO

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were crowned as Champions of Europe when they beat Wednesday’s opponents Inter Milan 1 – 0 in the Final to win their inaugural Champions League title.

City will be looking to beat Inter once again at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night as they look to get their latest campaign in this high-profile competition off to the best possible start. A sensational atmosphere is assured for what is a high-profile and prestigious encounter.

Rodri scored the all-important winning goal midway through the second half at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul to make history for his club (68’).

The Cityzens are looking to win this tournament for the second time in three years. The 2023 Final is their most recent and only encounter to date in this competition.

Celtic (Scotland) vs. Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) – Wednesday 18th September, 20:00 KO

1967 European Champions Celtic, led by their current Head Coach Brendan Rodgers, are set to begin their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign with their opening League Phase fixture against Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening.

The Bhoys from Glasgow are regulars in this competition and they are the reigning Scottish Champions. They were 2 – 1 winners against Inter Milan in their 1967 Final Victory, with their goals coming from Tommy Gemmell (63’) and Stevie Chalmers (84’).

A win against Slovan Bratislava would get their latest Champions League campaign off to a brilliant start. This is also the very first time that these two clubs will go toe to toe in this competition.

Atalanta (Italy) vs. Arsenal (England) – Thursday 19th September, 20:00 KO

Finally, the other British team featuring on Matchday One of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League’s League Phase is Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal who are taking on Italian outfit Atalanta on Thursday night. The game will be taking place away in Italy at Atalanta’s 24,950 capacity Gewiss Stadium.

The Gunners are amongst the leading contenders to win this season’s Champions League, and a victory in their opening game would be an ideal way to get their campaign in European Club Football’s most prestigious competition this season.

Their most recent Champions League campaign in 2023/24 saw the North London outfit make it all the way to the Quarter Finals, where they were narrowly defeated 3 – 2 on aggregate by German Giants Bayern Munich over the two legs.

Arsenal made the Final of this competition on one occasion, doing so back in the 2005/06 season. They will be looking to go one step further this season.

This will be the first time that these two clubs have ever met face to face in this competition, in what promises to be an enthralling contest with a great atmosphere to boot.

The remainder of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League Fixtures set to take place on Matchday One are as follows:

• Juventus (Italy) vs. PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) – Tuesday 17th September, 17:45 KO
• Bayern Munich (Germany) vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) – Tuesday 17th September, 20:00 KO
• Real Madrid (Spain) vs. Stuttgart (Germany) – Tuesday 17th September, 20:00 KO
• Sporting CP (Portugal) vs. LOSC Lille (France) – Tuesday 17th September, 20:00 KO
• Bologna (Italy) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) – Wednesday 18th September, 17:45 KO
• Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) vs. RB Salzburg (Austria) – Wednesday 18th September, 17:45 KO
• Club Brugge (Belgium) vs. Borussia Dortmund (Germany) – Wednesday 18th September, 20:00 KO
• Paris Saint Germain (France) vs. Girona (Spain) – Wednesday 18th September, 20:00 KO
• Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) vs. Benfica (Portugal) – Thursday 19th September, 17:45 KO
• Feyenoord (Netherlands) vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) – Thursday 19th September, 17:45 KO
• Atletico Madrid (Spain) vs. RB Leipzig (Germany) – Thursday 19th September, 20:00 KO
• AS Monaco (France) vs. FC Barcelona (Spain) – Thursday 19th September, 20:00 KO
• Brest (France) vs. Sturm Graz (Austria) – Thursday 19th September, 20:00 KO

Excitement and anticipation are building rapidly ahead of the long-awaited return of the highly prestigious UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.

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