It’s the start of the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions season. With all teams hoping to make history in this year’s campaign. With 8 games to be enjoyed tonight, the rest comes off tomorrow.
Starting from defending champions Manchester City will begin the defence of their maiden crown at home to reigning Serbian domestic champions Red Star Belgrade. The Citizens enter their 13th consecutive UCL group appearance with the full expectation of reaching the knockout phase just as they did in each of their last ten, hopes backed up by an imperious beginning to their Premier League campaign. Anything short of another City’s victory would arguably be the biggest shock of the opening round, especially seeing as Red Star have lost two of their last three games against much lesser opposition in the Serbian Super Liga. Casting further doubt over the frankly remote chance of Red Star’s success is their woeful record against Premier League sides across their last seven such games.
Also, it’s Paris Saint Germain against Borussia Dortmund, after letting several star players leave this summer, including Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Marco Verratti, PSG has hardly kicked off 2023/24 in style. An embarrassing 3-2 home defeat to Nice over the weekend made it just two wins from their opening five Ligue 1 matches, a string of results that have already put new manager Luis Enrique under pressure. However, the Spanish boss will be hoping that the UEFA Champions League will serve as a welcome distraction while visiting Dortmund enjoyed an impressive 4-2 victory on the road against Freiburg this weekend as they extended their unbeaten Bundesliga streak to start the campaign to four matches.
Despite giving up another lead, manager Edin Terzic was happy to see “a big impact with the players coming on” which will have helped to boost confidence after they squandered a 2-0 lead to draw at home to newly-promoted Heidenheim just before the international break. However, the UCL hasn’t been kind to Dortmund in recent seasons, with the former winners not progressing past the quarter-final stage since their runners-up finish back in 2012/13. In another tough group this campaign alongside PSG, Milan, and Newcastle, a quick start is needed here, but their record of one win from their last six UCL away matches suggests that’s not likely.
Elsewhere at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, AC Milan might welcome a swift return to action after Saturday’s 5-1 defeat to Inter, their heaviest derby defeat since August 2009. The seven-time European champions are in a tricky group alongside PSG and Borussia Dortmund, so they’ll look to use the positive experience of last term’s run to the semi-finals as inspiration. Ahead of their first meeting with Newcastle, they don’t have an inspiring recent record against English clubs, winning just one of their last 11 matches, although that victory was in the round of 16 against Tottenham in February. The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza remains a tricky place for visitors to excel as the Rossoneri have only lost one of their last five UCL games here against non-Milan sides.
That defeat against Chelsea could give Newcastle some hope as they return to the UCL after 20 years and travel on a high after ending a three-game losing run by beating Brentford 1-0 on Saturday, but this is new territory for many of their players, and their manager Eddie Howe.
HERE ARE FULL FIXTURES FOR TODAY’S UCL.
AC MILAN VS NEWCASTLE (4:45 PM)
BBC YOUNG BOYS VS RB LEIPZIG (4:45 PM)
MANCHESTER CITY VS RED STAR (7:00 PM)
BARCELONA VS. ROYAL ANTWERP (7:00 PM)
SHAKHTAR VS FC PORTO (7:00 PM)
FEYENOORD VS. CELTIC FC (7:00 PM)
FC LAZIO VS. ATLETICO MADRID (7:00 PM)
PSG VS. DORTMUND (7:00 PM)
By: DenkyiramanRadio.com