Manchester United are back in the Champions League, and they will kick off their campaign with a tough trip to the Parc Des Princes to face PSG in their Group H encounter. United competed in the Europa League last season, making it all the way to the semi final, while PSG reached the final only to be beaten by Bayern Munich. PSG are the favorites on paper, but United won their last encounter at this venue in March 2019, when United overturned a 2-0 first leg deficit to win 3-1. That result helped Ole Gunnar Solksjaer secure the United job on the permanent basis, and he will certainly want something similar here. PSG on the other hand will want to avenge that painful defeat, but they will be more concerned about qualifying from a tough group that also contains German side RB Leipzig. They have lost just 7 of their 53 Champions League games at home, and having neymar here is a much needed boost.
Barcelona will be looking to make a winning start to their campaign when they take on Ferencvaros at the Nou Camp in Group G. The Catalan giants could only reach the quarter finals last season after suffering a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich. Ronald Koeman is now in charge of the side and while they started the season well, they were beaten 1-0 by Getafe at the weekend. A win here will be crucial ahead of El Clasico on October 24th. Barca are unbeaten in their last 36 home Champions League games and will be hot favorites to beat a Ferencvaros side making their first appearance in the competition since the 1995/96 season.
Serie A Champions Juventus will travel to Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kyiv. The Italian side were held to a 1-1 draw with lowly Crotone without talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, and they will be making this tough trip without him. However there are players who are more than capable of causing damage, with debutant Federico Cheisa providing an assist for Morata to tap in against Crotone. He will be looking to make an impact on the big stage in the absence of the Portuguese superstar. Dynamo Kyiv have had a flying start to their season with four wins and two draws but are yet to face a side of Juve’s class. Could an upset be on the cards?
Lazio and Borussia Dortmund go head to head in a classic clash at the Stadio Olimpicoin Group F. Lazio have started the season in poor fashion, picking up just four points from four games. Striker Ciro Immobile has scored just once this season after netting 36 goals in the last, and he will be motivated to make an impact against his former club. Immobile scored just three goals in 24 appearances while with the German side, and has gone on to score 125 goals with Lazio. Dortmund are in much better form with three wins from four matches in the Bundesliga. Lucien Favre’s men will fancy their chances of picking up the points against a side who are yet to sort themselves out.
Zenit St Petersburg will entertain Club Brugge at the Gazprom Arena. Zenit have established themselves as a dominant side in Russia, and will now look to translate that dominance to the Champions League. They finished bottom of their group last season and have found themselves in a tough situation yet again. Standing in their way is the free scoring Club Brugge. The Belgian side have scored 22 goals in just nine games this season and will be desperate to improve their poor Champions League form, failing to win any of their last eight Champions League games.
Chelsea will face a tough test when Sevilla visit Stamford Bridge in Group E. The Blues have failed to make it past the round of 16 in the last four seasons, a record which motivated them to spend big in the transfer window. Players such as Timo Werner and Thiago Silva have been brought in along with a host of other signings as they look to conquer Europe’s biggest club competition. Sevilla won the Europa League last season and have won 16 of their last 30 matches in the group stage of the competition. They are side capable of pushing the best and will certainly go for the kill here.
Rennes and Krasdonar will face off for the points at the Stade de la route de Lorient.
