UEFA Champions League
The Champions League Matchday 3 returns for a second night, after a goal-laden Tuesday night, the rest of Europe’s elite battle each other as the race for round of 16 qualification heats up.
UEFA Champions League
Match 1, (17:55 pm) Ajax vs Chelsea
Chelsea make the trip to Amsterdam to face last season’s Champions League semi-finalists Ajax, looking for a result to avoid slipping off the pace in Group H.
Frank Lampard’s side have a win and a defeat from their first two games, against Valencia and Lille, but a loss in the Dutch capital would leave them six points behind Ajax as the group stage reaches the halfway point.
Match 2, (20:00 pm) Red Bull Salzburg vs Napoli
Napoli can take a giant step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages when they take on Red Bull Salzburg on matchday three. Carlo Ancelotti’s side sprung a surprise when they beat holders Liverpool 2-0 at the San Paolo in the group opener before a drab display in their goalless draw with Genk in Belgium.
Salzburg have shown their mettle after an admirable three-goal comeback at Anfield before eventually succumbing to a 4-3 defeat and crushed Genk 6-2 in their first game, with Norwegian starlet Erling Braut Haaland grabbing a hat-trick.
Match 3, (20:00 pm) Inter Milan vs Borussia Dortmund
Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund square off in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, with the hosts still looking for their first win in this year’s competition.
The Nerazzuri, while pushing Juventus hard in Serie A, currently prop up Group F after following an underwhelming home draw with Slavia Prague by throwing away an early lead against Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Borussia Dortmund, by contrast, sit top of the pile on four points. Lucien Favre’s side held Barca to a goalless draw before winning 2-0 in the Czech Republic earlier this month courtesy of Achraf Hakimi’s brace.
With Barcelona expected to win comfortably in Prague tonight, another victory for Dortmund would open up a wide chasm in Group F with only three games remaining.
Match 4, (17:55 pm) RB Leipzig vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Zenit and Leipzig go head to head in a match which could well have a massive impact on how Group G finishes.
Group G was undoubtedly the picks of the draws for sides hoping to progress to the last-16, with Zenit, Leipzig, Lyon and Benfica pitted against each other in an entirely winnable group for each for the four teams. Zenit and Lyon have made strong starts with four points apiece, Leipzig trail behind on three, while Benfica are adrift having lost their first two games.
But such is the nature of the group that whoever wins tonight in Leipzig, could well end up topping the group by the close of play
Match 5, ( 20;00 pm) Lille LOSC vs Valencia
Lille LOSC welcomes Valencia CF to Stade Pierre Mauroy knowing that only victory will do on Champions League matchday three.
The French side fell to a narrow defeat against Chelsea last time out and were humbled 3-0 by Ajax in Amsterdam, leaving them bottom of Group H. There will be more than a few people from the UK watching this one with Chelsea keen to put some distance between themselves and Valencia, who also have three points.
Match 6, (20:00 pm) Slavia Prague vs Barcelona
There have been times this season when Ernesto Valverde would have feared for his job at Camp Nou, especially when Lionel Messi was struggling to shake off fitness issues which began in the summer. However, five successive wins in all competitions have silenced the majority of talk regarding the manager’s future, with Barca now sitting at the top of the La Liga standings.
Valverde’s main objective will now be to ensure that his squad build on their recent dominant wins over Sevilla and Eibar, aware that Slavia are capable of defeating any opponents on their own patch.
Nevertheless, Messi’s break from the team will only have increased the desire of the Argentine to maintain his tag as the best player in the world, something he will feel that he has justified with his recent return of two goals and three assists from four outings.
Barcelona still have plenty of work to do in order to make the last 16, however, and it may take more brilliance from Messi to get the better of a solid Slavia outfit.
On the back of last season’s run through to the Europa League quarter-finals, Slavia earned a draw away at Inter Milan in their opening fixture and pushed Borussia Dortmund all of the way at the Sinobo Stadium on matchday two.
While picking up just one point from those games has left Slavia struggling to achieve a top-two position, Jindrich Trpisovsky will reiterate to his squad that they can throw everything at Barcelona on Wednesday night with no pressure on their shoulders.
Match 7, (20:00 pm) Genk vs Liverpool
Liverpool continue their Champions League title defence with a trip to Genk on Wednesday evening.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds kicked off Group E with a 2-0 defeat at Napoli, but got back on track by beating Red Star Belgrade 4-3 at Anfield last time out. Up next for Liverpool are Belgian side Genk, who have collected one point so far – though that was a creditable goalless home draw against Napoli.
Klopp will want to see his defence improve after conceding five group-stage goals already, and they can ill-afford another defeat if they want to finish top of the table.
Match 8 ,(20:00 pm) Benfica vs Lyon
Benfica have a fine opportunity to show they are not out of contention to qualify from Champions League Group G when hosting Lyon on Wednesday.
The Portuguese champions have yet to get off the mark after losing 2-1 at home to RB Leipzig and 3-1 away to Zenit St Petersburg, leaving them three points adrift at the bottom of the table with the other trio all covered by just a solitary point.
Lyon, meanwhile, are already experiencing a strange season. They began by appointing Sylvinho as manager for his first managerial job as the successor to Bruno Genesio, started Ligue 1 with two emphatic victories and then won only one more out of nine and sacked the Brazilian, replacing him with Rudi Garcia!
The former Lille, Roma and Marseille boss had no immediate impact, drawing his first game in charge 0-0 at home to Dijon, but at least the one further match Lyon did win under Sylvinho was in the Champions League against RB Leipzig to put them top of the group.
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