Champions League Matchday Three Preview

This season’s competition will continue next week following the conclusion of the latest international break.

We are now at the halfway stage of the group stages for this season’s UEFA Champions League competition, with the third matches of this round set to begin on Tuesday next week after the international break concluded this week. 16 matches will be played over two days as clubs aim to become the new European Champions.

Starting with Tuesday’s matches, two Premier League clubs will continue their Champions League campaign: Manchester United and Arsenal. Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils will face Danish heavyweights FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford (20:00 Kick-Off), whilst Mikel Arteta’s Gunners face a trip to Seville to go head-to-head with Sevilla at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (20:00 Kick-Off).

Manchester United (England) v Copenhagen (Denmark) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Manchester United currently sit bottom of the Group A table following their loss to Turkey’s Galatasaray last time out. They do have the opportunity to climb up to third should they beat Copenhagen on Tuesday night. United and Copenhagen have only played against each other twice in the history of the Champions League.

The first time these two clubs met was in the 2006/07 Group Stages, and on this occasion, it was an emphatic 3 – 0 victory for Manchester United at Old Trafford. The goal scorers for the Red Devils were Paul Scholes (39’), John O’Shea (46’) and Kieran Richardson (83’). United lost the second game against their Danish counterparts in the same season 1 – 0.

Manchester United’s remaining Champions League Group Stage matches are as follows:

FC Copenhagen v Manchester United (Parken, Wednesday 8th November – 20:00 Kick-Off)

Galatasaray v Manchester United (Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi, Wednesday 29th November – 17:45 Kick-Off)

Manchester United v Bayern Munich (Old Trafford, Tuesday 12th December – 20:00 Kick-Off)

Sevilla (Spain) v Arsenal (England) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Arsenal have got their latest Champions League campaign off to a solid start, sitting 2nd after a win and a defeat in their first two matches against PSV Eindhoven and Lens. Depending on results elsewhere, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners could find themselves at the top of the Group B table with victory against Sevilla.

In the history of the Champions League, Sevilla and Arsenal have met on 2 occasions and have one win each. Both matches came in the 2007/08 season’s Group Stages, where Arsenal were 3 – 0 winners in the first match after Cesc Fabregas (27’), Robin Van Persie (69’) and Eduardo (90+2’) had found the net. The Gunners lost the other meeting against Sevilla 3 – 1, with Eduardo scoring Arsenal’s only goal (11’).

Arsenal’s remaining Champions League Group Stage matches are as follows:

Arsenal v Sevilla (Emirates Stadium, Wednesday 8th November – 20:00 Kick-Off)

Arsenal v Lens (Emirates Stadium, Wednesday 29th November – 20:00 Kick-Off)

PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal (PSV Stadion, Tuesday 12th December – 17:45 Kick-Off)

Now we will move on to the rest of Tuesday’s Champions League matches, starting with Galatasaray against Bayern Munich.

Galatasaray (Turkey) v Bayern Munich (Germany) – Tuesday 24th October, 17:45

Turkish Giants Galatasaray are set to welcome 6-time European Champions Bayern Munich to Istanbul for their third Group Stage match. Galatasaray began their Champions League campaign with a 2 – 2 draw against Copenhagen before securing a statement 3 – 2 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford. As for Bayern, they have won both matches, beating Manchester United 4 – 3 and Copenhagen 2 – 1.

The two clubs have met twice at the time of writing in the Champions League. They played out a 1 – 1 draw in their first encounter before Bayern won their second ever meeting 6 – 0 in 1972.

Inter Milan (Italy) v RB Salzburg (Austria) – Tuesday 24th October, 17:45

3 time European Champions Inter Milan are going head to head with 17-time Austrian Champions RB Salzburg at the San Siro in their third match of the 2023/24 Champions League Group Stages. Inter drew their first game 1 – 1 against Spain’s Real Sociedad before beating Portuguese heavyweights Benfica 1 – 0. As for Salzburg, they beat Benfica 2 – 0 before losing by the same score line against Real Sociedad.

This will be the first time the two clubs have ever met in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Lens (France) v PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Lens and PSV Eindhoven sit at opposite ends of Group B. Lens sit top of the table with 4 points from 2 matches, whereas their Dutch counterparts are yet to win and sit at the bottom of the pile with just one point to their name. Lens drew 1 – 1 with Sevilla before beating Arsenal 2 – 1. As for PSV, they lost 4 – 0 to the Gunners before drawing 2 – 2 with Sevilla.

This will be the first time that these two clubs have ever met in the history of this competition.

Braga (Portugal) v Real Madrid (Spain) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Portuguese club Braga welcome 14-time European Champions Real Madrid to the Estadio Municipal de Braga in their third match of the 2023/24 Group Stages. Los Blancos have won both of their opening two games, beating Union Berlin 1 – 0 before securing a 3 – 2 victory against Italian Champions Napoli. As for Braga, they lost 2 – 1 to Napoli before beating Union Berlin 3 – 2.

Braga and Real Madrid have never met in the UEFA Champions League.

Union Berlin (Germany) v Napoli (Italy) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Serie A Champions Napoli will travel to the German Capital to play Union Berlin at the Olympiastadion on Tuesday evening. Napoli began with a 2 -1 win over Braga before being narrowly defeated 3 – 2 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against Real Madrid. Union have so far lost both of their Champions League matches, losing 1 – 0 to Real Madrid and 3 – 2 to Braga.

Union Berlin and Napoli will meet for the first time in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Benfica (Portugal) v Real Sociedad (Spain) – Tuesday 24th October, 20:00

Two-time European Champions Benfica will go head to head with La Liga side Real Sociedad on Tuesday evening in Group D. Sociedad drew 1 – 1 with Inter in their first game before beating Salzburg 2 – 0. Meanwhile, Benfica have suffered a 2 – 0 defeat to Salzburg before being beaten 1 – 0 by Inter.

These two clubs have met twice in the UEFA Champions League. In the 2016/17 season, Napoli beat Benfica 4 – 2 at home before beating them again, this time 2 – 1 away from home in Portugal.

Now we move on to Wednesday’s matches, where Manchester City and Newcastle United are the two English sides in action in the Champions League on that day. Let’s start with Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens.

BSC Young Boys (Switzerland) v Manchester City (England) – Wednesday 25th October, 20:00

Champions League holders Manchester City will travel to the Stadion Wankdorf in Switzerland to take on 16-time Swiss Champions BSC Young Boys on Wednesday. City are top of Group G after winning both of their matches, beating Red Star Belgrade 3 – 1 and then RB Leipzig 3 – 1. Meanwhile, Young Boys are 3rd in the group after losing 3 – 1 to Leipzig and drawing 2 – 2 with Red Star.

This will be the first time that BSC Young Boys and Manchester City have ever met in the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester City’s remaining Champions League Group Stage matches are as follows:

Manchester City v BSC Young Boys (Etihad Stadium, Tuesday 7th November – 20:00 Kick-Off)

Manchester City v RB Leipzig (Etihad Stadium, Tuesday 28th November – 20:00 Kick-Off)

Red Star Belgrade v Manchester City (Stadion Rajko Mitić, Wednesday 13th December – 17:45 Kick-Off)

Newcastle United (England) v Borussia Dortmund (Germany) – Wednesday 25th October, 20:00

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United are set to welcome German giants and one-time European Champions Borussia Dortmund to St. James’ Park on Wednesday 25th October. The Magpies sit top of Group F after drawing 0 – 0 with AC Milan and beating Paris Saint-Germain 4 – 1 at home. As for Dortmund, they are bottom of the group after losing 2 – 0 to PSG and drawing 0 – 0 with AC Milan.

These two clubs have never met in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Lazio (Italy) – Wednesday 25th October, 17:45

Feyenoord and Lazio are set to go head to head in matchday three of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League Group Stages. Feyenoord sit third in Group E after beating Celtic 2 – 0 and losing 3 – 2 to Atletico Madrid. As for Lazio, they are second following a 1 – 1 draw against Atletico Madrid and a dramatic 2 – 1 win against Celtic at Celtic Park.

These two clubs have met twice in this competition. Feyenoord won their first encounter 2 – 1 before they played out a 0 – 0 draw in their second Champions League meeting.

FC Barcelona (Spain) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) – Wednesday 25th October, 17:45

Five-time European Champions FC Barcelona will welcome Ukrainian Giants Shakhtar Donetsk to the Camp Nou next Wednesday. The Blaugrana are top after wins against Royal Antwerp (5 – 0) and FC Porto (0 – 1). Shakhtar are third after a loss to Porto (1 – 3) and a win against Antwerp (2 – 3).

They have met on 6 occasions in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona and Shakhtar’s most recent encounter was in the second leg of the 2010/11 Quarter Finals, where the Blaugrana won 1 – 0 in Ukraine to seal an emphatic 6 – 1 aggregate win.

Celtic (Scotland) v Atletico Madrid (Spain) – Wednesday 25th October, 20:00

One-time European Champions Celtic welcome Spanish Giants Atletico Madrid to Celtic Park on Matchday Three of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League. Celtic are bottom after losing to Feyenoord (2 – 0) and Lazio (1 – 2). As for Atletico, they are top of Group E after drawing 1 – 1 with Lazio and beating Feyenoord 3 – 2.

Celtic and Atletico Madrid have met twice in the European Cup/Champions League, with both coming in the 1973/74 semi-finals. They drew 0 – 0 in Glasgow before Atleti won 2 – 0 to get to the Final, where they lost 4 – 0 to Bayern Munich in a replay of the Final.

Paris Saint-Germain (France) v AC Milan (Italy) – Wednesday, 25th October, 20:00

Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain will welcome 7-time European Champions AC Milan to the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. PSG are 2nd in Group F following a 2 – 0 win against Borussia Dortmund and a 4 – 1 defeat against group leaders Newcastle United at St. James’ Park. Milan are 3rd after consecutive 0 – 0 draws against Newcastle United and Borussia Dortmund.

These two European heavyweights have met 4 times in this competition. They last met in the Group Stages in the 2000/01 campaign, where they drew 1 – 1 in Paris.

RB Leipzig (Germany) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) – Wednesday 25th October, 20:00

One-time European Champions Red Star Belgrade will travel to Germany to take on RB Leipzig at the RB Arena next week. Leipzig sits second, only behind Manchester City, after beating BSC Young Boys 3 – 1 and losing by the same score line against Guardiola’s Cityzens. Red Star are bottom of Group G after a 3 – 1 loss to City and a 2 – 2 draw with Young Boys.

These two clubs have never met in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Royal Antwerp (Belgium) v FC Porto (Portugal) – Wednesday 25th October, 20:00

Belgian Champions Royal Antwerp will meet two-time European Champions FC Porto on the third matchday of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League. Antwerp are bottom of Group H after they suffered defeats against FC Barcelona (5 – 0) and Shakhtar Donetsk (2 – 3). Porto, meanwhile, are 2nd after beating Shakhtar 3 – 1 away from home before losing 1 – 0 at home to Barcelona.

This will be the first time that these two football clubs have ever played against each other in the entire history of the UEFA Champions League.

The eyes of the football world will be on the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday next week as clubs from across Europe look to strengthen their bids for European glory.

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