Sports

September 15, 2014

UCL Preview: Arsenal to repeat Dortmund trick, Monaco hope

UCL Preview: Arsenal to repeat Dortmund trick, Monaco hope

Arsenal’s English midfielder Theo Walcott (C) is congratulated by team-mates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League group F football match Marseille v. Arsenal on September 18, 2013 at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France. AFP PHOTO

Arsenal will be looking to win in Dortmund for the second season running, while the opening night of the Champions League group stage also sees Liverpool’s return and last season’s runners-up Atletico Madrid in action.

AFP Sports takes a look at all the fixtures in Groups A, B, C and D on Tuesday:

Read Groups A, B preview here.

Group C

BENFICA V ZENIT ST PETERSBURG

Portuguese champions Benfica, last season’s beaten Europa League finalists, face a familiar foe as Zenit St Petersburg head to Lisbon coached by Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese was a nemesis for Benfica during his highly successful season in charge of Porto in 2010/11 and he has enjoyed a fine start to this campaign with Zenit, winning 10 games in a row in all competitions.

Benfica are also undefeated so far this season, the Brazilian Talisca scoring a hat-trick in Friday’s 5-0 win at Vitoria Setubal.

 

MONACO V BAYER LEVERKUSEN

When they finished second in Ligue 1 last season, Monaco looked capable of going on to be a force to be reckoned with in Europe, but James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao and other stars left over the summer without being replaced and Leonardo Jardim’s side are in the relegation zone at home ahead of their meeting with early Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Roger Schmidt’s visitors are without captain Simon Rolfes for the trip to the principality but Lars Bender is fit again and South Korea’s Heung-Min Son is likely to start after scoring as a substitute in Friday’s 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen.

 

Group D

BORUSSIA DORTMUND V ARSENAL

Dortmund and Arsenal meet in the Champions League for the second season running. Last time around, the German giants won 2-1 in London, but an Aaron Ramsey goal handed the Gunners a 1-0 victory at the Signal Iduna Park. Arsene Wenger’s side will be looking for a repeat performance here that would extend their unbeaten start to the campaign, although they must do without the injured Mathieu Debuchy.

Jurgen Klopp’s home side beat Freiburg 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday with Shinji Kagawa scoring on his first appearance since returning to the club from Manchester United. They will need the Japanese star to perform again, especially with numerous players currently missing, including Marco Reus and captain Mats Hummels.

 

GALATASARAY V ANDERLECHT

Turkish giants Galatasaray entertain Anderlecht looking for a better start to this season’s Champions League than 12 months ago, when they were thumped 6-1 by Real Madrid in Istanbul. Now coached by former Italy boss Cesare Prandelli, Gala should do better against Anderlecht, even if the Belgian champions are so far unbeaten this season. They have finished bottom in their last seven group stage campaigns.