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Here comes Matchday 2.
After a roaring first round, Europe’s best are back in action in their respective Champions League groups.
For some teams, its a great opportunity to build on a positive first result to gain footing in the group stage. For others, points are needed to avoid an uphill battle through the remainder of this phase.
Here is the UCL Matchday schedule for the next 2 days:
Tuesday 1st October
· Real Madrid vs Club Brugge
· Atalanta vs Shakhtar Donetsk
· Galatasaray vs PSG
· Tottenham vs Bayern München
· Crvena Zvezda vs Olympiakos Piraeus
· Manchester City vs Dinamo Zagreb
· Juventus vs Bayer Leverkusen
· Lokomotiv Moscow vs Atletico Madrid
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Wednesday 2nd October
· Genk vs Napoli
· Slavia Prague vs Borussia Dortmund
· Liverpool vs Salzburg
· Zenit vs Benfica
· RB Leipzig vs Olympique Lyonnais
· Barcelona vs Internazionale
· Valencia vs Ajax
· Lille vs Chelsea
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Tuesday 1st October
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After a first round away draw to Olympiakos, Mauricio Pocchetino’s men face a tough matchup against German champions Bayern Munich. Spurs have had a shaky and uncertain start to the season, and a loss here could further compound their misery. Harry Kane and Heung Min Son will have a huge job on their shoulders to counter a relentless Bayern Munich attack.
Robert Kovac’s Bayern have been consistent to start the season with strong results in both domestic and European competition. Robert Lewandowski will lead the line, but they have great attacking outlets in Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Phillip Coutinho.
Juventus welcome Bayer Leverkusen to Turin and will be looking for their first win in the group. Cristiano Ronaldo will be hungry to get off the mark in Europe, but Matthias De Ligt, Miralem Pjanic, Gonzalo Higuain and even Aaron Ramsey are one to watch. For Leverkusen, it’s another opportunity to run the rule over Kai Havertz.
Elsewhere there are some tricky fixtures for Atletico Madrid (away to Lokomotiv Moscow) and PSG away to Galatasaray. Atalanta have another chance to start their campaign against visiting Shakhtar Donetsk. Finally it looks like routine wins for Manchester City (home vs Dinamo Zagreb) and Real Madrid (home vs Club Brugge).
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Wednesday 2nd October
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The biggest tie of the round sees an in-form Inter Milan visit Camp Nou to tackle Barcelona. Lionel Messi remains an injury doubt, so it will likely be up to the likes of Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Co to deliver for Ernesto Valverde’s men.
Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan have had a superb start to the season in domestic competition, with talk of a Serie A title tilt already gathering steam. However, a last ditch equalizer saved them from humiliation at the hands of Slavia Prague in Matchday 1.
Manchester United castaways Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez have points to prove, while Stefano Sensi has been in great form to the start the season. This should be a great battle.
Elsewhere, Liverpool and Chelsea will aim to recover from first leg losses when they face Red Bull Salzburg and Lille respectively. Napoli and Dortmund face tricky away trips (to Genk and Slavia Prague).
Valencia will host Ajax in a tie that should determine top spot in Group H. Lastly, Zenit St. Petersburg host Benfica in a close tie while RB Leipzig will face an out of form Olympique Lyon team.
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Which match(es) will you watch? Have you made changes to your team? Who’s your captain? Used any chips? Please join us in the comments as all of the exciting action unfolds!
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